,««*_ 


K)K  STORE 

EAST    WATER    ST. 

CAWIUKEE.WIS 


THE    STORIES 


OF    THE 


THREE  BURGLARS 


BY 

FRANK    R.    STOCKTON 

Author  of  "  Rudder  Grange?'  "  What  Might  Have  Been 

Expected,"  "The  Late  Mrs.  Null,"  "The  Great 

War    Syndicate"   etc.,  etc. 


NEW    YORK 

DODD,    MEAD    &     COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyrighted ',   i88q, 
BY  DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY. 


THE     STORIES 


THREE   BURGLARS, 


I  AM  a  householder  in  a  pleasant  coun 
try  neighbourhood,  about  twenty  miles 
from  New  York.  My  family  consists  of 
myself  and  wife,  our  boy,  George  William, 
aged  two,  two  maid-servants,  and  a  man ; 
but  in  the  summer  we  have  frequent  visit 
ors,  and  at  the  time  of  which  I  am  about 
to  write  my  Aunt  Martha  was  staying 
with  us. 

My  house  is  large  and  pleasant,  and  we 
have  neighbours  near  enough  for  social 
purposes  and  yet  not  too  near  or  too  many 
to  detract  from  the  rural  aspect  of  our  sur 
roundings.  But  we  do  not  live  in  a  para 
dise  ;  we  are  occasionally  troubled  by 
mosquitoes  and  burglars. 

Against  the  first  of  these  annoyances 
we  have  always  been  able  to  :  gu&rd; 


4  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

selves,  at  least  in  a  measure,  and  our  man 
and  the  cook  declare  that  they  have  be 
come  so  used  to  them  that  they  do  not 
mind  them ;  but  to  guard  against  burglars 
is  much  more  difficult,  and  to  become  used 
to  them  would,  I  think,  require  a  great 
deal  of  practice. 

For  several  months  before  the  period  of 
this  narrative  our  neighbourhood  had  been 
subject  to  visits  from  burglars.  From 
time  to  time  houses  had  been  entered  and 
robbed,  and  the  offenders  had  never  been 
detected. 

We  had  no  police  force,  not  even  a  vil 
lage  organization.  There  was  a  small  rail 
way  station  near  our  house,  and  six  miles 
away  was  the  county  town.  For  fire  and 
police  protection  each  household  was 
obliged  to  depend  upon  itself. 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  burglarious 
enterprises  in  our  midst,  we  had  not  felt 
the  need  of  much  protection  in  this  direc 
tion;  sometimes  poultry  was  stolen,  but 
this  was  a  rare  occurrence,  and,  although 
windows  and  doors  were  generally  fast 
ened  for  the  night,  this  labour  was  often 
considered  much  more  troublesome  than 
necessary.,  .But  now  a  great  change  had 
tak6i>  $&££  in  the  feelings  of  our  com- 


THREE   BUBGLABS.  5 

munity.  When  the  first  robbery  occurred 
the  neighbours  were  inclined  to  laugh  about 
it,  and  to  say  that  Captain  Hubbard's  habit 
of  sitting  up  after  the  rest  of  his  family 
had  gone  to  bed  and  then  retiring  and  for 
getting  to  close  the  front  door  had  invited 
the  entrance  of  a  passing  tramp.  But 
when  a  second  and  a  third  house,  where 
windows  and  doors  had  not  been  1  sf t  open, 
had  been  entered,  and,  in  a  measure,  de 
spoiled,  people  ceased  to  laugh;  and  if 
there  had  been  any  merriment  at  all  on 
the  subject,  it  would  have  been  caused  by 
the  extraordinary  and  remarkable  precau 
tions  taken  against  the  entrance  of  thieves 
by  night.  The  loaded  pistol  became  the 
favourite  companion  of  the  head  of  the 
house ;  those  who  had  no  watch-dogs 
bought  them ;  there  were  new  locks,  new 
bolts,  new  fastenings.  At  one  time  there 
was  a  mounted  patrol  of  young  men, 
which,  however,  was  soon  broken  up  by 
their  mothers.  But  this  trouble  was  un^ 
availing,  for  at  intervals  the  burglaries 
continued. 

As  a  matter  of  course  a  great  many 
theories  were  broached  as  to  the  reasons 
for  this  disturbance  in  our  hitherto  peace 
ful  neighbourhood.  We  were  at  such  a 


6  THE  STORIES  OF  THE 

distance  from  the  ordinary  centres  of 
crime  that  it  was  generally  considered 
that  professional  burglars  would  hardly 
take  the  trouble  to  get  to  us  or  to  get 
away  from  us,  and  that,  therefore,  the  of 
fences  were  probably  committed  by  unsus 
pected  persons  living  in  this  part  of  the 
country  who  had  easy  means  of  determin 
ing  which  houses  were  worth  breaking 
into  and  what  method  of  entrance  would 
be  most  feasible.  In  this  way  some  fami 
lies,  hitherto  regarded  as  respectable  fami 
lies,  had  fallen  under  suspicion. 

So  far,  mine  was  the  only  house  of  any 
importance  within  the  distance  of  a  mile 
from  the  station  which  had  not  in  some 
way  suffered  from  burglars.  In  one  or 
two  of  these  cases  the  offenders  had  been 
frightened  away  before  they  had  done  any 
other  injury  than  the  breaking  of  a  win 
dow-shutter  ;  but  we  had  been  spared  any 
visitation  whatever.  After  a  time  we  be 
gan  to  consider  that  this  was  an  invidious 
distinction.  Of  course  we  did  not  desire 
that  robbers  should  break  into  our  house 
and  steal,  but  it  was  a  sort  of  implied  in 
sult  that  robbers  should  think  that  our 
house  was  not  worth  breaking  into.  We 
contrived,  however,  to  bear  up  under  this 


THREE  BURGLARS.  1 

implied  contempt  and  even  under  the 
facetious  imputations  of  some  of  our  lively 
neighbours,  who  declared  that  it  looked 
very  suspicious  that  we  should  lose  noth 
ing,  and  even  continue  to  add  to  our 
worldly  goods,  while  everybody  else  was 
suffering  from  abstractions. 

I  did  not,  however,  allow  any  relaxation 
in  my  vigilance  in  the  protection  of  my 
house  and  family.  My  time  to  suffer  had 
not  yet  arrived,  and  it  might  not  arrive  at 
all ;  but  if  it  did  come  it  should  not  be  my 
fault.  I  therefore  carefully  examined  all 
the  new  precautions  my  neighbours  had 
taken  against  the  entrance  of  thieves,  and 
where  I  approved  of  them  I  adopted  them. 

Of  some  of  these  my  wife  and  I  did  not 
approve.  For  instance,  a  tin  pan  contain 
ing  iron  spoons,  the  dinner  bell,  and  a 
miscellaneous  collection  of  hardware  bal 
anced  on  the  top  stair  of  the  staircase,  and 
so  connected  with  fine  cords  that  a  thief 
coming  up  the  stairs  would  send  it  rattling 
and  bounding  to  the  bottom,  was  looked 
upon  by  us  with  great  disfavour.  The 
descent  of  the  pan,  whether  by  innocent 
accident  or  the  approach  of  a  burglar, 
might  throw  our  little  boy  into  a  fit,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  terrible  fright  it  would 


8  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

give  my  Aunt  Martha,  who  was  a  maiden 
lady  of  middle  age,  and  not  accustomed 
to  a  clatter  in  the  night.  A  bull-dog  in 
the  house  my  wife  would  not  have,  nor, 
indeed,  a  dog  of  any  kind.  George  Wil 
liam  was  not  yet  old  enough  to  play  with 
dogs,  especially  a  sharp  one ;  and  if  the 
dog  was  not  sharp  it  was  of  no  use  to  have 
him  in  the  house.  To  the  ordinary  burglar- 
alarm  she  strongly  objected.  She  had  been 
in  houses  where  these  things  went  off  of 
their  own  accord,  occasioning  great  con 
sternation  ;  and,  besides,  she  said  that  if 
thieves  got  into  the  house  she  did  not 
want  to  know  it  and  she  did  not  want  me 
to  know  it ;  the  quicker  they  found  what 
they  came  for  and  went  away  with  it  the 
better.  Of  course,  she  wished  them  kept 
out,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible ;  but  if 
they  did  get  in,  our  duty  as  parents  of  the 
dearest  little  boy  was  non-interference. 
She  insisted,  however,  that  the  room  in 
which  the  loveliest  of  children  slept,  and 
which  was  also  occupied  by  ourselves, 
should  be  made  absolutely  burglar  proof ; 
and  this  object,  by  means  of  extraordinary 
bolts  and  chains,  I  flattered  myself  I  accom 
plished.  My  Aunt  Martha  had  a  patent 
contrivance  for  fastening  a  door  that  she 


THREE   BURGLARS.  9 

always  used,  whether  at  home  or  travelling, 
and  in  whose  merit  she  placed  implicit 
confidence.  Therefore  we  did  not  feel  it 
necessary  to  be  anxious  about  her ;  and 
the  servants  slept  at  the  top  of  the  house, 
where  thieves  would  not  be  likely  to  go. 

"They  may  continue  to  slight  us  by 
their  absence,"  said  my  wife,  "  but  I  do 
not  believe  that  they  will  be  able  to 
frighten  us  by  their  presence." 

I  was  not,  however,  so  easily  contented 
as  my  wife.  Of  course  I  wished  to  do 
everything  possible  to  protect  George 
William  and  the  rest  of  the  family,  but  I 
was  also  very  anxious  to  protect  our  prop 
erty  in  all  parts  of  the  house.  Therefore, 
in  addition  to  everything  else  I  had  done, 
I  devised  a  scheme  for  interfering  with  the 
plans  of  men  who  should  feloniously  break 
into  our  home. 

After  a  consultation  with  a  friend,  who 
was  a  physician  greatly  interested  in  the 
study  of  narcotic  drugs,  I  procured  a  mixt 
ure  which,  was  almost  tasteless  and  with 
out  peculiar  odour,  and  of  which  a  small 
quantity  would  in  less  than  a  minute  throw 
an  ordinary  man  into  a  state  of  uncon 
sciousness.  The  potion  was,  however,  no 
more  dangerous  in  its  effects  than  that 


10  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

quantity  of  ardent  spirits  which  would 
cause  entire  insensibility.  After  the  lapse 
of  several  hours,  the  person  under  the  in 
fluence  of  the  drug  would  recover  con 
sciousness  without  assistance.  But  in 
order  to  provide  against  all  contingencies 
my  friend  prepared  a  powerful  antidote, 
which  would  almost  immediately  revive 
one  who  had  been  made  unconscious  by 
our  potion. 

The  scheme  that  I  had  devised  may 
possibly  have  been  put  into  use  by  others. 
But  of  this  I  know  not.  I  thought  it  a 
good  scheme  and  determined  to  experiment 
with  it,  and,  if  possible,  to  make  a  trap 
which  should  catch  a  burglar.  I  would 
reveal  this  plan  to  no  one  but  my  friend 
the  physician  and  my  wife.  Secrecy 
would  be  an  important  element  in  its 
success. 

Our  library  was  a  large  and  pleasant 
room  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  house,  and 
here  I  set  my  trap.  It  was  my  habit  to 
remain  in  this  room  an  hour  or  so  after  the 
rest  of  the  family  had  gone  to  bed,  and,  as 
I  was  an  early  riser,  I  was  always  in  it 
again  before  it  was  necessary  for  a  servant 
to  enter  it  in  the  morning. 

Before  leaving  the  library  for  the  night 


THREE  BURGLARS.  11 

I  placed  in  a  conspicuous  position  in  the 
room  a  small  table,  on  which  was  a  tray 
holding  two  decanters  partially  filled  with 
wine,  in  the  one  red  and  in  the  other  white. 
There  was  also  upon  the  tray  an  open  box 
of  biscuit  and  three  wine-glasses,  two  of 
them  with  a  little  wine  at  the  bottom.  I 
took  pains  to  make  it  appear  that  these 
refreshments  had  been  recently  partaken 
of.  There  were  biscuit  crumbs  upon  the 
tray,  and  a  drop  or  two  of  wine  was  freshly 
spilled  upon  it  every  time  the  trap  was  set. 
The  table,  thus  arranged,  was  left  in  the 
room  during  the  night,  and  early  in  the 
morning  I  put  the  tray  and  its  contents 
into  a  closet  and  locked  it  up. 

A  portion  of  my  narcotic  preparation 
was  thoroughly  mixed  with  the  contents 
of  each  of  the  decanters  in  such  propor 
tions  that  a  glass  of  the  wine  would  be 
sufficient  to  produce  the  desired  effect. 

It  was  my  opinion  that  there  were  few 
men  who,  after  a  night  walk  and  perhaps 
some  labour  in  forcibly  opening  a  door  or 
a  window-shutter,  would  not  cease  for  a 
moment  in  pursuance  of  their  self-imposed 
task  to  partake  of  the  refreshments  so  con 
veniently  left  behind  them  by  the  occu 
pants  of  the  house  when  they  retired  to 


12  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

rest.  Should  my  surmises  be  correct,  I 
might  reasonably  expect,  should  my  house 
be  broken  into,  to  find  an  unconscious 
burglar  in  the  library  when  I  went  down 
in  the  morning.  And  I  was  sure,  and  my 
wife  agreed  with  me,  that  if  I  should  find 
a  burglar  in  that  room  or  any  other  part 
of  the  house,  it  was  highly  desirable  that 
he  should  be  an  unconscious  one. 

Night  after  night  I  set  my  burglar  trap, 
and  morning  after  morning  I  locked  it  up 
in  the  closet.  I  cannot  say  that  I  was 
exactly  disappointed  that  no  opportunity 
offered  to  test  the  value  of  my  plan,  but  it 
did  seem  a  pity  that  I  should  take  so  much 
trouble  for  nothing.  It  had  been  some 
weeks  since  any  burglaries  had  been  com 
mitted  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  it  was  the 
general  opinion  that  the  miscreants  had 
considered  this  field  worked  out  and  had 
transferred  their  labours  to  a  better-paying 
place.  The  insult  of  having  been  consid 
ered  unworthy  the  attention  of  the  knights 
of  the  midnight  jimmy  remained  with  us, 
but  as  all  our  goods  and  chattels  also  re 
mained  with  us  we  could  afford  to  brook 
the  indignity. 

As  the  trap  cost  nothing  my  wife  did 
not  object  to  my  setting  it  every  night  for 


THREE   BURGLARS.  13 

the  present.  Something  might  happen, 
she  remarked,  and  it  was  just  as  well  to  be 
prepared  in  more  ways  than  one  ;  but  there 
was  a  point  upon  which  she  was  very 
positive. 

"When  George  William  is  old  enough 
to  go  about  the  house  by  himself,"  she 
said,  "those  decanters  must  not  be  left 
-exposed  upon  the  table.  Of  course  I  do 
not  expect  him  to  go  about  the  house 
drinking  wine  and  everything  that  he  finds, 
but  there  is  no  knowing  what  a  child  in  the 
first  moments  of  his  investigative  existence 
may  do." 

For  myself,  I  became  somewhat  tired  of 
acting  my  part  in  this  little  farce  every 
night  and  morning,  but  when  I  have  un 
dertaken  anything  of  this  sort  I  arn  slow 
to  drop  it. 

It  was  about  three  weeks  since  I  had 
begun  to  set  my  trap  when  I  was  awakened 
in  the  night  by  a  sudden  noise.  I  sat  up 
in  bed,  and  as  I  did  so  my  wife  said  to  me 
sleepily,  — 

"  What  is  that  ?  Was  it  thunder  ?  There 
it  is  again ! "  she  exclaimed,  starting  up. 
"  What  a  crash !  It  must  have  struck 
somewhere."  I  did  not  answer.  It  was 
not  thunder.  It  was  something  in  the 


14  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

house,  and  it  flashed  into  my  mind  that 
perhaps  my  trap  had  been  sprung.  I  got 
out  of  bed  and  began  rapidly  to  dress. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  "  anx 
iously  asked  my  wife. 

"  I'm  going  to  see  what  has  happened," 
said  I.  At  that  moment  there  was  an 
other  noise.  This  was  like  two  or  three 
heavy  footsteps,  followed  by  a  sudden 
thump:  but  it  was  not  so  loud  as  the 
others. 

"  John,"  cried  my  wife,  "  don't  stir  an 
inch,  it's  burglars  I "  and  she  sprang  out 
of  bed  and  seized  me  by  the  arm. 

"  I  must  go  down,"  I  said  ;  "  but  there 
is  really  no  reason  for  your  being  fright 
ened.  I  shall  call  David,  and  shall  carry 
my  pistol,  so  there  is  really  no  danger. 
If  there  are  thieves  in  the  house  they 
have  probably  decamped  by  this  time  — 
that  is,  if  they  are  able  to  do  so,  for  of 
course  they  must  know  that  noise  would 
awaken  the  soundest  sleepers." 

My  wife  looked  at  me  and  then  slowly 
withdrew  her  hands  from  my  arm. 

"  You  promise  me,"  she  said,  "  if  you 
find  a  burglar  downstairs  in  the  possession 
of  his  senses  you  will  immediately  come 
back  to  me  and  George  William  ?  " 


THREE   BURGLARS.  15 

I  promised  her,  and,  slipping  on  some 
clothes,  I  went  out  into  the  second-story 
hall.  I  carried  no  light.  Before  I  had 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  back  stairs  I 
heard  David,  my  man,  coming  down.  To 
be  sure  it  was  he  and  not  a  burglar  I 
spoke  to  him  in  a  low  voice,  my  pistol 
raised  in  case  of  an  unsatisfactory  reply. 

"  I  heard  that  noise,  sir,"  he  whispered, 
"  and  was  going  down  to  see  about  it." 

"  Are  you  ready  if  it's  thieves  ? "  I 
whispered. 

"I  have  got  the  biscuit-beater,"  he  re 
plied. 

"  Come  on,  then,"  said  I,  and  we  went 
downstairs. 

I  had  left  no  light  in  the  library,  but 
there  was  one  there  now,  and  it  shone 
through  the  open  door  into  the  hallway. 
We  stopped  and  listened.  There  was  no 
sound,  and  then  slowly  and  cautiously  we 
approached  the  door  of  the  library.  The 
scene  I  beheld  astounded  me,  and  invol 
untarily  I  sprang  back  a  step  or  two.  So 
did  David ;  but  in  an  instant  we  saw  that 
there  was  no  need  of  retreat  or  defence. 
Stretched  upon  the  floor,  not  far  from  the 
doorway,  lay  a  tall  man,  his  face  upturned 
t/>  the  light  of  a  bull's-eye  lantern  which 


16  THE  S TORIES   OF  THE 

stood  by  the  mantel-piece.  His  eyes  were 
shut,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  was  per 
fectly  insensible.  Near  by,  in  the  wreck 
of  the  small  table,  glasses,  and  decanters, 
lay  another  man,  apparently  of  heavier 
build.  He  also  was  as  still  as  a  corpse. 
A  little  further  back,  half  sitting  on  the 
floor,  with  the  upper  part  of  his  body 
resting  against  the  lounge,  was  another 
man  with  a  black. mask  over  his  face. 

"  Are  they  dead  ?  "  exclaimed  David,  in 
an  undertone  of  horror. 

"  No,"  said  I,  "  they  are  not  dead ;  they 
have  been  caught  in  my  trap." 

And  I  must  admit  that  the  conscious 
ness  of  this  created  a  proud  exultation  of 
spirit  within  me.  I  had  overmatched 
these  rascals ;  they  were  prostrated  be 
fore  me.  If  one  of  them  moved,  David 
and  I  could  kill  him.  But  I  did  not 
believe  there  would  be  any  killing,  nor 
any  moving  for  the  present. 

In  a  high  whisper,  which  could  have 
been  heard  distinctly  all  over  the  house, 
my  wife  now  called  to  me  from  the  top 
of  the  stairs.  "What  is  it?"  she  said. 
"  What  has  happened  ?  " 

I  stepped  quickly  to  the  stairway. 

"  Everything   is    all  right,"  I   said  in  a 


THREE   BURGLARS.  17 

loud,  distinct  voice,  intended  to  assure  my 
wife  that  there  was  no  necessity  for  cau 
tion  or  alarm.  "  I  will  be  with  you  pres 
ently." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  nothing  is  the 
matter,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  now  for  the 
first  time  opening  her  door.  "I  was 
afraid  something  had  happened." 

But  I  had  business  to  attend  to  before  I 
could  go  upstairs.  In  thinking  over  and 
arranging  this  plan  for  the  capture  of 
burglars,  I  had  carefully  considered  its 
various  processes,  and  had  provided 
against  all  the  contingencies  I  could  think 
of;  therefore  I  was  not  now  obliged  to 
deliberate  what  I  should  do.  "  Keep  your 
eye  on  them,"  said  I  to  David,  "  and  if 
one  of  them  moves  be  ready  for  him. 
The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  tie  them  hand 
and  foot." 

I  quickly  lighted  a  lamp,  and  then  took 
from  another  shelf  of  the  closet  a  large 
coil  of  strong  cotton  rope,  which .  I  had 
provided  for  such  an  occasion  as  the 
present. 

"Now,"  said  I  to  David,  "I  will  tie 
them  while  you  stand  by  to  knock  over 
any  one  of  them  who  attempts  to  get  up." 

The  instrument  with  which  David  was 


18  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

prepared  to  carry  out  my  orders  was  a 
formidable  one.  In  the  da}^s  of  my  youth 
my  family  was  very  fond  of  "  Maryland 
biscuit,"  which  owes  much  of  its  delicacy 
to  the  fact  that  before  baking  it  is  pounded 
and  beaten  by  a  piece  of  heavy  iron.  Some 
people  used  one  kind  of  a  beater  and 
some  another,  but  we  had  had  made  for 
the  purpose  a  heavy  iron  club  a  little  over 
a  foot  long,  large  and  heavy  at  one  end 
and  a  handle  at  the  other.  In  my  present 
household  Maryland  biscuits  were  never 
made,  but  I  had  preserved  this  iron  beater 
as  a  memento  of  my  boyhood,  and  when 
the  burglaries  began  in  our  vicinity  I  gave 
it  to  David  to  keep  in  his  room,  to  be 
used  as  a  weapon  if  necessary.  I  did  not 
allow  him  to  have  a  pistol,  having  a  regard 
for  my  own  safety  in  a  sudden  night  alarm, 
and  nothing  could  be  more  formidable  in 
a  hand-to-hand  encounter  than  this  skull- 
crushing  club. 

I  began  with  the  tall  man,  and  rapidly 
tied  his  feet  together  with  many  twists  of 
the  rope  and  as  many  knots.  I  then 
turned  him  over  and  tied  his  elbows  be 
hind  him  in  the  same  secure  way.  I  had 
given  so  much  thought  to  the  best  method 
of  securing  a  man  by  cords,  that  I  do  not 


THREE   BURGLARS.  19 

think  this  fellow  could  possibly  have  re 
leased  himself  when  I  had  finished  with 
him. 

David  was  obeying  my  orders  and  keep 
ing  a  strict  watch  on  the  prostrate  men ; 
but  his  emotions  of  amazement  were  so 
great  that  he  could  not  keep  them  down. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  them,  sir  ?  " 
he  said.  "  How  did  they  come  so  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  time  for  talking  now,"  I 
answered.  "I  will  tell  you  all  about  it 
when  the  men  have  been  secured."  I  now 
turned  my  attention  to  the  man  who  was 
partly  resting  against  the  lounge.  I  first 
tied  his  feet,  and  before  letting  him  down 
to  the  floor,  so  as  to  get  to  his  arms,  I  re 
moved  his  hat  and  his  mask,  which  was 
made  of  black  muslin.  I  was  surprised  to 
see  the  beardless  face  of  a  young  and  very 
good-looking  man.  He  was  well  dressed, 
and  had  the  general  appearance  of  a  per 
son  belonging  to  theatrical  circles.  When 
his  arms  had  been  tied,  I  told  David  he 
might  lay  down  his  biscuit-beater,  and 
help  me  with  the  third  man,  who  was 
badly  mixed  up  with  the  debris  of  the  re 
freshments.  We  hauled  him  out  and  tied 
him  up.  He  was  rather  a  short  man,  but 
very  heavy,  and  I  could  see  no  signs  of  his 


20  THE  STORIES  OF  THE 

having  been  hurt  by  the  smash-up  he 
made  in  falling. 

We  now  proceeded  to  search  the  insensi 
ble  burglars  for  arms.  Upon  the  tall  man 
we  found  a  large  revolver,  a  heavy  billy, 
which  seemed  as  if  it  had  seen  service,  and 
a  long-bladed  knife.  The  stout  man  car 
ried  two  double-barrelled  pistols,,  and  upon 
one  of  the  ringers  of  his  right  hand  wore  a 
brass  ring  with  a  murderous-looking  iron 
protuberance  upon  it,  which,  when  driven 
forward  by  his  powerful  arm,  was  probably 
more  dangerous  than  a  billy.  Upon  the 
younger  man  we  found  no  arms  at  all,  and 
his  hip  pocket  contained  nothing  but  a 
small  handbook  on  civil  engineering. 

I  now  briefly  explained  to  David  the 
nature  of  the  trap  which  had  caught  the 
burglars.  He  gazed  upon  me  with  a  face 
glowing  with  amazed  admiration. 

"  What  a  head  you  have  got,  sir !  "  he 
exclaimed.  "  I  don't  believe  there  is 
another  man  in  this  State  who  would  have 
thought  of  that.  And  what  are  you  going 
to  do  with  them  now,  sir ;  hang  'em  ? 
That's  what  ought  to  be  done  with  them, 
the  hounds  ! " 

"  All  I  shall  do,"  I  answered,  "  will  be 
to  keep  them  till  daylight,  and  then  I  shall 


THREE   BURGLARS.  21 

send  word  to  the  sheriff  at  Kennertown, 
and  have  him  send  officers  for  them." 
.   "  Upon   my    word,"    exclaimed  David, 
"they  are  in  the  worst  kind  of  a  box." 

Now  my  wife  called  me  again.  "  What 
in  the  world  are  you  doing  down  there  ?  " 
she  called ;  "  why  don't  you  come  up 
stairs  ?  " 

This  annoyed  me,  for  I  was  not  yet 
ready  to  go  upstairs.  I  wished  to  resus 
citate  these  fellows,  for  their  stupor  was 
so  profound  that  I  began  to  fear  that  per- 
haps  they  had  taken  too  much  of  the  drug 
and  ought  to  be  brought  to  their  senses 
as  speedily  as  possible.  This  feeling  was 
due  more  to  my  desire  that  serious  injuries 
should  not  occur  to  the  rascals  while  in 
my  house  than  to  any  concern  for  them. 

"  My  dear,"  said  I,  stepping  to  the  bot 
tom  of  the  stairs,  "  I  have  some  things  to 
attend  to  down  here  which  will  occupy 
me  a  few  minutes  longer ;  then  I  will  come 
up  to  you." 

"  I  can't  imagine  what  the  things  are," 
she  said,  "  but  I  suppose  I  can  wait,"  and 
she  went  into  her  room  and  closed  her 
door  after  her. 

I  now  began  to  consider  what  was  to  be 
done  with  the  burglars  after  they  had 


22  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

been  resuscitated.  My  first  impulse  was 
to  rid  the  house  of  them  by  carrying  them 
out  of  doors  and  bringing  them  to  their 
senses  there.  But  there  was  an  objection  to 
this  plan.  They  would  be  pretty  heavy  fel 
lows  to  carry,  and  as  it  would  be  absolutely 
necessary  to  watch  them  until  they  could  be 
given  into  the  charge  of  the  officers  of  the 
law,  I  did  not  want  to  stay  out  of  doors  to 
do  this,  for  the  night  air  was  raw  and 
chilly,  and  I  therefore  determined  to  keep 
them  in  the  house.  And  as  they  could  be 
resuscitated  better  in  a  sitting  position, 
they  must  be  set  up  in  some  way  or  other. 
I  consulted  David  on  the  subject. 

"  You  might  put  'em  up  with  their  backs 
agin  the  wall,  sir,"  said  he,  "  but  the  dirty 
beasts  would  spoil  the  paper.  I  wouldn't 
keep  them  in  a  decent  room  like  this.  I'd 
haul  'em  out  into  the  kitchen,  anyway." 

But  as  they  were  already  in  the  library 
I  decided  to  let  them  stay  there,  and  to 
get  them  as  speedily  as  possible  into  some 
position  in  which  they  might  remain.  I 
bethought  me  of  a  heavy  wooden  settle 
or  bench  with  back  and  arms  which  stood 
on  the  side  piazza.  With  David's  help  I 
brought  this  into  the  room  and  placed  it 
with  its  back  to  the  window. 


THREE    BURGLARS.  23 

"  Now,  then,"  said  I  to  David,  "  we 
will  put  them  on  this  bench,  and  I  will  tie 
them  fast  to  it.  We  cannot  be  too  careful 
in  securing  them,  for  if  one  of  them  were 
to  get  loose,  even  without  arms,  there  is 
no  knowing  what  trouble  he  might  make." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  David,  "if  I'm  to  han 
dle  them  at  all,  I'd  rather  have  them  dead, 
as  I  hope  they  are,  than  have  them  alive  ; 
but  you  needn't  be  afraid,  sir,  that  any 
one  of  them  will  get  loose.  If  I  see  any 
signs  of  that  111  crack  the  rascal's  skull  in 
a  jiffy." 

It  required  a  great  deal  of  tugging  and 
lifting  to  get  those  three  men  on  the 
bench,  but  we  got  them  there  side  by  side, 
their  heads  hanging  listlessly,  some  one 
way,  some  another.  I  then  tied  each  one 
of  them  firmly  to  the  bench. 

I  had  scarcely  finished  this  when  I 
again  heard  my  wife's  voice  from  the  top 
of  the  stairs. 

"  If  any  pipes  have  burst,"  she  called 
down,  "  tell  David  not  to  catch  the  water 
in  the  new  milk-pans." 

"Very  well,"  I  replied,  "I'll  see  to  it," 
and  was  rejoiced  to  hear  again  the  shutting 
of  the  bedroom  door. 

I  now  saturated  a  sponge  with  the  pow- 


24  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

erful  preparation  which  Dr.  Marks  had 
prepared  as  an  antidote,  and  held  it  under 
the  nose  of  the  tall  burglar.  In  less  than 
twenty  seconds  he  made  a  slight  quiver 
ing  in  his  face  as  if  he  were  about  to 
sneeze,  and  very  soon  he  did  sneeze  slight 
ly.  Then  he  sneezed  violently,  raised  his 
head,  and  opened  his  eyes.  For  a  moment 
he  gazed  blankly  before  him,  and  then 
looked  stupidly  at  David  and  at  me.  But 
in  an  instant  there  flashed  into  his  face 
the  look  of  a  wild  beast.  His  quick,  glit 
tering  eye  took  in  the  whole  situation  at 
a  glance.  With  a  furious  oath  he  threw 
himself  forward  with  such  a  powerful 
movement  that  he  nearly  lifted  the  bench. 

"  Stop  that,"  said  David,  who  stood 
near  him  with  his  iron  club  uplifted. 
"If  you  do  that  again  I'll  let  you  feel 
this." 

The  man  looked  at  him  with  a  fiery 
flash  in  his  eyes,  and  then  he  looked  at 
me,  as  I  stood  holding  the  muzzle  of  my 
pistol  within  two  feet  of  his  face.  The 
black  and  red  faded  out  of  his  counte 
nance.  He  became  pale.  He  glanced  at 
his  companions  bound  and  helpless.  His 
expression  now  changed  entirely.  The 
fury  of  the  wild  beast  was  succeeded  by 


THREE  BURGLARS.  25 

a  look  of  frightened  subjection.  Gazing 
very  anxiously  at  my  pistol,  he  said,  in  a 
voice  which,  though  agitated,  was  low  and 
respectful :  — 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?  What  are  you 
going  to  do  ?  Will  you  please  turn  away 
the  muzzle  of  that  pistol  ?  " 

I  took  no  notice  of  this  indication  of  my 
steadiness  of  hand,  and  answered  :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  bring  these  other  scoun 
drels  to  their  senses,  and  early  in  the 
morning  the  three  of  you  will  be  on  your 
way  to  jail,  where  I  hope  you  may  remain 
for  the  rest  of  your  lives." 

"  If  you  don't  get  killed  on  your  way 
there,"  said  David,  in  whose  nervous  hand 
the  heavy  biscuit-beater  was  almost  as 
dangerous  as  my  pistol. 

The  stout  man  who  sat  in  the  middle  of 
the  bench  was  twice  as  long  in  reviving  as 
had  been  his  companion,  who  watched  the 
operation  with  intense  interest.  When 
the  burly  scoundrel  finally  became  con 
scious,  he  sat  for  a  few  minutes  gazing  at 
the  floor  with  a  silly  grin  ;  then  he  raised 
his  head  and  looked  first  at  one  of  his 
companions  and  then  at  the  other,  gazed 
for  an  instant  at  me  and  David,  tried  to 
move  his  feet,  gave  a  pull  at  one  arm  and 


26  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

then  at  the  other,  and  when  he  found 
he  was  bound  hard  and  fast,  his  face 
turned  as  red  as  fire  and  he  opened 
his  mouth,  whether  to  swear  or  yell  I 
know  not.  I  had  already  closed  the  door, 
and  before  the  man  had  uttered  more  than 
a  premonitory  sound,  David  had  clapped 
the  end  of  his  bludgeon  against  his  mouth. 

"  Taste  that,"  he  said,  "  and  you  know 
what  you  will  get  if  you  disturb  this 
family  with  any  of  your  vile  cursin'  and 
swearin'." 

"  Look  here,"  said  the  tall  man,  sud 
denly  turning  to  the  other  with  an  air  of 
authority,  "  keep  your  mouth  shut  and 
don't  speak  till  you're  spoken  to.  Mind 
that,  now,  or  these  gentlemen  will  make 
it  the  worse  for  you." 

David  grinned  as  he  took  away  his 
club. 

"  I'd  gentlemen  you,"  he  said,  "  if  I 
could  get  half  a  chance  to  do  it." 

The  face  of  the  heavy  burglar  main 
tained  its  redness,  but  he  kept  his  mouth 
shut. 

When  the  younger  man  was  restored  to 
his  senses,  his  full  consciousness  and  power 
of  perception  seemed  to  come  to  him  in  an 
instant.  His  eyes  flashed  from  right  to 


THREE  BURGLARS.  27 

left,  he  turned  deadly  white,  and  then 
merely  moving  his  arms  and  legs  enough 
to  make  himself  aware  that  he  was  bound, 
he  sat  perfectly  still  and  said  not  a  word. 

I  now  felt  that  I  must  go  and  acquaint 
my  wife  with  what  had  happened,  or 
otherwise  she  would  be  coming  downstairs 
to  see  what  was  keeping  me  so  long; 
David  declared  that  he  was  perfectly  able 
to  keep  guard  over  them,  and  I  ran  up 
stairs.  David  afterward  told  me  that  as 
soon  as  I  left  the  room  the  tall  burglar  en 
deavoured  to  bribe  him  to  cut  their  ropes, 
and  told  him  if  he  was  afraid  to  stay 
behind  after  doing  this  he  would  get  him 
a  much  better  situation  than  this  could 
possibly  be.  But  as  David  threatened 
personal  injury  to  the  speaker  if  he  uttered 
another  word  of  the  kind,  the  tall  man 
said  no  more  ;  but  the  stout  man  became 
very  violent  and  angry,  threatening  all 
sorts  of  vengeance  on  my  unfortunate 
man.  David  said  he  was  beginning  to 
get  angry,  when  the  tall  man,  who  seemed 
to  have  much  influence  over  the  other 
fellow,  ordered  him  to  keep  quiet,  as  the 
gentleman  with  the  iron  club  no  doubt 
thought  he  was  doing  right.  The  young 
fellow  never  said  a  word. 


28  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

When  I  told  my  wife  that  I  had  caught 
three  burglars,  and  they  were  fast  bound 
in  the  library,  she  nearly  fainted  ;  and 
when  I  had  revived  her  she  begged  me  to 
promise  that  I  would  not  go  downstairs 
again  until  the  police  had  carried  away 
the  horrible  wretches.  But  I  assured  her 
that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  me  to 
return  to  the  library.  She  then  declared 
that  she  would  go  with  me,  and  if  any 
thing  happened  she  would  share  my  fate. 
"  Besides,"  she  said,  "  if  they  are  tied  fast 
so  they  can't  move,  I  should  like  to  see 
what  they  look  like.  I  never  saw  a  burg 
lar." 

I  did  not  wish  my  wife  to  go  down 
stairs,  but  as  I  knew  there  would  be  no 
use  in  objecting,  I  consented.  She  hastily 
dressed  herself,  making  me  wait  for  her ; 
and  when  she  left  the  room  she  locked  the 
door  on  the  sleeping  George  William,  in 
order  that  no  one  should  get  at  him  dur 
ing  her  absence.  As  we  passed  the  head 
of  the  stairs,  the  door  of  my  Aunt  Mar 
tha's  room  opened,  and  there  she  stood, 
completely  dressed,  with  her  bonnet  on, 
and  a  little  leather  bag  in  her  hand. 

"  I  heard  so  much  talking  and  so  much 
going  up  and  down  stairs  that  I  thought  I 


THREE   BURG  LA  US.  29 

had  better  be  ready  to  do  whatever  had  to 
be  done.  Is  it  fire  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  my  wife  ;  "  it's  three  burglars 
tied  in  a  bunch  in  the  library.  I  am  going 
down  to  see  them." 

My  Aunt  Martha  gasped,  and  looked  as 
if  she  were  going  to  sit  down  on  the  floor. 

"  Goodness  gracious  !  "  she  said,  "  if 
you're  going  I'll  go  too.  I  can't  let  you 
go  alone,  and  I  never  did  see  a  burglar." 

I  hurried  down  and  left  the  two  ladies 
on  the  stairs  until  I  was  sure  everything 
was  still  safe ;  and  when  I  saw  that  there 
had  been  no  change  in  the  state  of  affairs, 
I  told  them  to  come  down. 

When  my  wife  and  Aunt  Martha  tim 
idly  looked  in  at  the  library  door,  the 
effect  upon  them  and  the  burglars  was 
equally  interesting.  The  ladies  each  gave 
a  start  and  a  little  scream,  and  huddled 
themselves  close  to  me,  and  the  three 
burglars  gazed  at  them  with  faces  that  ex 
pressed  more  astonishment  than  any  I  had 
,5ver  seen  before.  The  stout  fellow  gave 
vent  to  a  smothered  exclamation,  and  the 
face  of  the  young  man  flushed,  but  not 
one  of  them  spoke. 

"  Are  you  sure  they  are  tied  fast  ?  " 
whispered  my  Aunt  Martha  to  me. 


30  THE  STOKIES   OF  THE 

"  Perfectly,"  I  answered  ;  "  if  I  had  not 
been  sure  I  should  not  have  allowed  you 
to  come  down." 

Thereupon  the  ladies  picked  up  courage 
and  stepped  further  into  the  room. 

"  Did  you  and  David  catch  them  ? " 
asked  my  aunt;  "and  how  in  the  world 
did  you  do  it?" 

"  I'll  tell  you  all  about  that  another 
time,"  I  said,  "  and  you  had  better  go  up 
stairs  as  soon  as  you  two  have  seen  what 
sort  of  people  are  these  cowardly  burglars 
who  sneak  or  break  into  the  houses  of 
respectable  people  at  night,  and  rob  and 
steal  and  ruin  other  people's  property  with 
no  more  conscience  or  human  feeling  than 
is  possessed  by  the  rats  which  steal  your 
corn,  or  the  polecats  which  kill  your 
chickens." 

"I  can  scarcely  believe,"  said  Aunt 
Martha,  "  that  that  young  man  is  a  real 
burglar." 

At  these  words  the  eyes  of  the  fellow 
spoken  of  glowed  as  he  fixed  them  on 
Aunt  Martha,  but  he  did  not  say  a  word, 
and  the  paleness  which  had  returned  to 
his  face  did  not  change/ 

"  Have  they  told  you  who  they  are  ?  " 
asked  my  wife. 


THREE   BURGLARS.  31 

"  I  haven't  asked  them,'1  I  said.  "  And 
now  don't  you  think  you  had  better  go  up 
stairs?" 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Aunt  Martha, 
"  that  those  ropes  must  hurt  them." 

The  tall  man  now  spoke.  "Indeed 
they  do,  madam,"  he  said  in  a  low  voice 
and  very  respectful  manner,  "they  are 
very  tight." 

I  told  David  to  look  at  all  the  cords 
and  see  if  any  of  them  were  too  tightly 
drawn. 

"  It's  all  nonsense,  sir,"  said  he,  when  he 
had  finished  the  examination  ;  "  not  one 
of  the  ropes  is  a  bit  too  tight.  All  they 
want  is  a  chance  to  pull  out  their  ugly 
hands." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  "  if  it 
would  be  unsafe  to  loosen  the  knots  I 
wouldn't  do  it.  Are  they  to  be  sent  to 
prison  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  I ;  "as  soon  as  the  day 
breaks  I  shall  send  down  for  the  police." 

I  now  heard  a  slight  sound  at  the  door, 
and  turning,  saw  Alice,  our  maid  of  the 
house,  who  was  peeping  in  at  the  door. 
Alice  was  a  modest  girl,  and  quite  pretty. 

"  I  heard  the  noise  and  the  talking,  sir," 
she  said,  "and  when  I  found  the  ladies 


32  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

had  gone  down  to  see  what  it  was,  1 
thought  I  would  come  too." 

"And  where  is  the  cook,"  asked  my 
wife  ;  "  don't  she  want  to  see  burglars  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  answered  Alice,  very 
emphatically.  "As  soon  as  I  told  her 
what  it  was  she  covered  up  her  head  with 
the  bedclothes  and  declared,  ma'am,  that 
she  would  never  get  up  until  they  were 
entirely  gone  out  of  the  house." 

At  this  the  stout  man  grinned. 

"  I  wish  you'd  all  cover  up  your  heads," 
he  said.  The  tall  man  looked  at  him  se 
verely,  and  he  said  no  more. 

David  did  not  mc>TTe  from  his  post  near 
the  three  burglars,  but  he  turned  toward 
Alice  and  looked  at  her.  We  knew  that 
he  had  tender  feelings  toward  the  girl,  and 
I  think  that  he  did  not  approve  of  her 
being  there. 

"  Have  they  stolen  anything  ?  "  asked 
Aunt  Martha. 

"  They  have  not  had  any  chance  to  take 
anything  away,"  I  said;  and  my  wife  re 
marked  that  whether  they  had  stolen  any 
thing  or  not,  they  had  made  a  dreadful 
mess  on  the  floor,  and  had  broken  the 
table.  They  •  should  certainly  be  pun 
ished. 


THREE  BURGLARS.  33 

At  this  she  made  a  motion  as  if  she 
would  leave  the  room,  and  an  anxious  ex 
pression  immediately  came  on  the  face  of 
the  tall  man,  who  had  evidently  been  re 
volving  something  in  his  mind. 

"  Madam,"  he  said,  "  we  are  very  sorry 
that  we  have  broken  your  table,  and  that 
we  have  damaged  some  of  your  glass  and 
your  carpet.  I  assure  you,  however,  that 
nothing  of  the  kind  would  have  happened 
but  for  that  drugged  wine,  which  was 
doubtless  intended  for  a  medicine,  and  not 
a  beverage  ;  but  weary  and  chilled  as  we 
were  when  we  arrived,  madam,  we  were 
glad  to  partake  of  it,  supposing  it  ordinary 
wine.'* 

I  could  not  help  showing  a  little  pride 
at  the  success  of  my  scheme. 

"  The  refreshment  was  intended  for  fel 
lows  of  your  class,  and  I  am  very  glad  you 
accepted  it." 

The  tall  man  did  not  answer  me;  but  he 
again  addressed  my  wife. 

"  Madam,"  he  said,  "  if  you  ladies  would 
remain  and  listen  to  me  a  few  moments,  I 
am  sure  I  would  make  you  aware  that 
there  is  much  to  extenuate  the  apparent 
offence  which  I  have  committed  to-night." 

My  wife  did  not  answer  him,  but  turn- 


34  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

ing  to  me  said,  smiling,  "  If  he  alludes  to 
their  drinking  your  wine  he  need  not 
apologize." 

The  man  looked  at  her  with  an  expres 
sion  as  if  her  words  had  pained  him. 

"  Madam,"  he  said,  "  if  you  consent  to 
listen  to  my  explanations  and  the  story  of 
this  affair,  I  am  sure  your  feelings  toward 
me  would  not  be  so  harsh." 

"  Now,  then,"  said  my  Aunt  Martha,  "  if 
he  has  a  story  to  tell  he  ought  to  be  al 
lowed  to  tell  it,  even  in  a  case  like  this. 
Nobody  should  be  judged  until  he  has  said 
what  he  thinks  he  ought  to  say.  Let  us 
hear  his  story." 

I  laughed.  "  Any  statement  he  may 
make,"  I  said,  "  will  probably  deserve  a 
much  stronger  name  than  stories." 

"I  think  that  what  you  say  is  true," 
remarked  my  wife  ;  "  but  still  if  he  has  a 
story  to  tell  I  should  like  to  hear  it." 

I  think  I  heard  David  give  a  little 
grunt ;  but  he  was  too  well  bred  to  say 
anything. 

"  Very  well,"  said  I,  "  if  you  choose  to 
sit  up  and  hear  him  talk,  it  is  your  affair. 
I  shall  be  obliged  to  remain  here  anyway, 
and  will  not  object  to  anything  that  will 
help  to  pass  away  the  time.  But  these 


THREE   BURGLARS.  35 

men  must  not  be  the  only  ones  who  are 
seated.  David,  you  and  Alice  can  clear 
away  that  broken  table  and  the  rest  of  the 
stuff,  and  then  we  might  as  well  sit  down 
and  make  ourselves  comfortable." 

Alice,  with  cloth  and  brush,  approached 
very  timidly  the  scene  of  the  disaster  ;  but 
the  younger  burglar,  who  was  nearest  to 
her,  gazed  upon  her  with  such  a  gentle  and 
quiet  air  that  she  did  not  seem  to  be 
frightened.  When  she  and  David  had  put 
the  room  in  fair  order,  I  placed  two  easy- 
chairs  for  my  wife  and  Aunt  Martha  at  a 
moderate  distance  from  the  burglars,  and 
took  another  myself  a  little  nearer  to 
them,  and  then  told  David  to  seat  himself 
near  the  other  end  of  the  bench,  and  Alice 
took  a  chair  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
ladies. 

"  Now,  then,"  said  Aunt  Martha  to  the 
burglars,  "  I  would  like  very  much  to  hear 
what  any  one  of  you  can  say  in  extenua 
tion  of  having  broken  into  a  gentleman's 
house  by  night." 

Without  hesitation  the  tall  man  began 
his  speech.  He  had  a  long  and  rather 
lean,  close-shaven  face,  which  at  present 
bore  the  expression  of  an  undertaker  con 
ducting  a  funeral.  Although  it  was  my 


36  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

aunt  who  had  shown  the  greatest  desire  to 
hear  his  story,  he  addressed  himself  to  my 
wife.  I  think  he  imagined  that  she  was 
the  more  influential  person  of  the  two. 

"  Madam,"  said  he,  "  I  am  glad  of  the 
opportunity  of  giving  you  and  your  family 
an  idea  of  the  difficulties  and  miseries 
which  beset  a  large  class  of  your  fellow- 
beings  of  whom  you  seldom  have  any 
chance  of  knowing  anything  at  all,  but  of 
whom  you  hear  all  sorts  of  the  most  mis 
leading  accounts.  Now,  I  am  a  poor  man. 
I  have  suffered  the  greatest  miseries  that 
poverty  can  inflict.  I  am  here,  suspected 
of  having  committed  a  crime.  It  is  possi 
ble  that  I  may  be  put  to  considerable  diffi 
culty  and  expense  in  proving  my  inno 
cence." 

"  I  shouldn't  wonder,"  I  interrupted. 
To  this  remark  he  paid  no  attention. 

"  Considering  all  this,"  he  continued, 
"  you  may  not  suppose,  madam,  that  as  a 
boy  I  was  brought  up  most  respectably  and 
properly.  My  mother  was  a  religious 
woman,  and  my  father  was  a  boat-builder. 
I  was  sent  to  school,  and  my  mother  has 
often  told  me  that  I  was  a  good  scholar. 
But  she  died  when  I  was  about  sixteen, 
and  I  am  sure  had  this  not  happened  I 


TIIKEE   lU'JWLAK*.  37 

should  never  have  been  even  suspected  of 
breaking  the  laws  of  my  country.  Not  long 
after  her  death  my  father  appeared  to  lose 
interest  in  his  business,  and  took  to  rowing 
about  the  river  instead  of  building  boats 
for  other  people  to  row.  Very  often  he 
went  out  at  night,  and  I  used  to  wonder 
why  he  should  care  to  be  on  the  water  in 
the  darkness,  and  sometimes  in  the  rain. 
One  evening  at  supper  he  said  to  me  : 
'  Thomas,  you  ought  to  know  how  to  row 
in  the  dark  as  well  as  in  the  daytime.  I 
am  going  up  the  river  to-night,  and  you 
can  come  with  me.' 

"It  was  about  my  ordinary  bedtime 
when  we  took  a  boat  with  two  pair  of  oars, 
and  we  pulled  up  the  river  about  three 
miles  above  the  city." 

"  What  city  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  The  city  where  I  was  born,  sir,"  he 
said,  "  and  the  name  of  which  I  must  be 
excused  from  mentioning  for  reasons  con 
nected  with  my  only  surviving  parent. 
There  were  houses  on  the  river  bank,  but 
they  were  not  very  near  each  other. 
Some  of  them  had  lights  in  them,  but  most 
of  them  were  dark,  as  it  must  have  been 
after  eleven  o'clock.  Before  one  of  them 
my  father  stopped  rowing  for  a  moment 


38  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

and  looked  at  it  pretty  hard.  It  seemed 
to  be  all  dark,  but  as  we  pulled  on  a  little 
I  saw  a  light  in  the  back  of  the  house. 

"  My  father  said  nothing,  but  we  kept 
on,  though  pulling  very  easy  for  a  mile  or 
two,  and  then  we  turned  and  floated  down 
with  the  tide.  '  You  might  as  well  rest, 
Thomas,'  said  he,  'for  you  have  worked 
pretty  hard.' 

"  We  floated  slowly,  for  the  tide  was 
just  beginning  to  turn,  and  when  we  got 
near  the  house  which  I  mentioned,  I 
noticed  that  there  was  no  light  in  it.  When 
we  were  about  opposite  to  it  father  sud 
denly  looked  up  and  said,  not  speaking 
very  loud,  '  By  George  !  if  that  isn't  Wil 
liamson  Green's  house.  I  wasn't  thinking 
of  it  when  we  rowed  up,  and  passed  it 
without  taking  notice  of  it.  I  am  sorry 
for  that,  for  I  wanted  to  see  Williamson, 
and  now  I  expect  he  has  gone  to  bed/ 

"  '  Who  is  Mr.  Green  ?  '  I  asked. 

" '  He  is  an  old  friend  of  mine,'  said  my 
father,  '  and  I  haven't  seen  him  for  some 
little  while  now.  About  four  months  ago 
he  borrowed  of  me  a  sextant,  quadrant, 
and  chronometer.  They  were  instruments 
I  took  from  old  Captain  Barney  in  pay 
ment  of  some  work  I  did  for  him.  I 


THREE   BURGLARS.  39 

wasn't  usin'  them,  and  Williamson  had 
bought  a  catboat  and  was  studying  navi 
gation  ;  but  he  has  given  up  that  fad  now 
and  has  promised  me  over  and  over  to  send 
me  back  my  instruments,  but  he  has  never 
dona  it.  If  I'd  thought  of  it  I  would  have 
stopped  and  got  'em  of  him ;  but  I  didn't 
think,  and  now  I  expect  he  has  gone  to 
bed.  However,  I'll  row  in  shore  and  see  ; 
perhaps  he's  up  yet.' 

"  You  see,  ma'am,"  said  the  speaker  to 
my  wife,  "  I'm  tellin'  you  all  these  particu 
lars  because  I  am  very  anxious  you  should 
understand  exactly  how  everything  hap 
pened  on  this  night,  which  was  the  turn 
ing-point  of  my  life." 

"  Very  good,"  said  Aunt  Martha  ;  "  we 
want  to  hear  all  the  particulars." 

"Well,  then,"  continued  the  burglar, 
"  we  pulled  up  to  a  stone  wall  which  was 
at  the  bottom  of  Green's  place  and  made 
fast,  and  father  he  got  out  and  went  up  to 
the  house.  After  a  good  while  he  came 
back  and  said  that  he  was  pretty  sure 
Williamson  Green  had  gone  to  bed,  and 
as  it  wouldn't  do  to  waken  people  up  from 
their  sleep  to  ask  them  for  nautical  instru 
ments  they  had  borrowed,  he  sat  down  for 
a  minute  on  the  top  of  the  wall,  and  then 


40  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

he   slapped   his   knee,   not  making  much 
noise,  though. 

" '  By  George  ! '  he  said, '  an  idea  has  just 
struck  me.  I  can  play  the  prettiest  trick 
on  Williamson  that  ever  was  played  on 
mortal  man.  Those  instruments  are  all 
in  a  box  locked  up,  and  I  know  just 
where  he  keeps  it.  I  saw  it  not  long 
ago,  when  I  went  to  his  house  to  talk 
about  a  yacht  he  wants  built.  They  are 
on  a  table  in  the  corner  of  his  bedroom. 
He  was  taking  me  through  the  house  to 
show  me  the  improvements  he  had  made, 
and  he  said  to  me  :  — 

"  '  "  Martin,  there's  your  instruments. 
I  won't  trouble  you  to  take  them  with 
you,  because  they're  heavy  and  you're 
not  going  straight  home,  but  I'll  bring 
them  to  you  day  after  to-morrow,  when  I 
shall  be  goin'  your  way." 

" c  Now,  then,'  said  my  father,  c  the  trick 
I'm  thinkin'  of  playing  on  Williamson  is 
this :  I'd  like  to  take  that  box  of  instru 
ments  out  of  his  room  without  his  know 
ing  it  and  carry  them  home,  having  the 
boat  here  convenient ;  and  then  in  a  day 
or  two  to  write  to  him  and  tell  him  I 
must  have  'em,  because  I  have  a  special 
uee  for  'em.  Of  course  he'll  be  awfully 


THREE  BURGLARS.  41 

cut  up,  not  having  them  to  send  back; 
and  when  he  comes  down  to  my  place  to 
talk  about  it,  and  after  hearing  all  he  has 
to  say,  111  show  him  the  box.  He'll  be 
the  most  dumbfoundedest  man  in  this 
State ;  and  if  I  don't  choose  to  tell  him 
he'll  never  know  to  his  dying  day  how  I 
got  that  box.  And  if  he  lies  awake  at 
night,  trying  to  think  how  I  got  it,  it 
will  serve  him  right  for  keeping  my  prop 
erty  from  me  so  long.' 

t;'But,  father,'  said  I,  'if  the  people 
have  gone  to  bed  you  can't  get  into  the 
house  to  play  him  your  trick.' 

" c  That  can  be  managed,'  says  he ;  4  I'm 
rather  old  for  climbing  myself,  but  I 
know  a  way  by  which  you,  Thomas,  can 
get  in  easy  enough.  At  the  back  of  the 
house  is  a  trellis  with  a  grape-vine  run 
ning  over  it,  and  the  top  of  it  is  just 
under  one  of  the  second-story  windows. 
You  can  climb  up  that  trellis,  Thomas, 
and  lift  up  that  window-sash  very  care 
fully,  so's  not  to  make  no  noise,  and  get 
in.  Then  you'll  be  in  a  back  room,  with 
a  door  right  in  front  of  you  which  opens 
into  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Green's  bedroom. 
There's  always  a  little  night  lamp  burn 
ing  in  it,  by  which  you  can  see  to  get 


42  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

about.  In  the  corner,  on  your  right  as 
you  go  into  the  room,  is  a  table  with  my 
instrument-box  standing  on  it.  The  box 
is  pretty  heavy,  and  there  is  a  handle  on 
top  to  carry  it  by.  You  needn't  be  afraid 
to  go  in,  for  by  this  time  they  are  both 
sound  asleep,  and  you  can  pick  up  the 
box  and  walk  out  as  gingerly  as  a  cat, 
having  of  course  taken  your  shoes  off 
before  you  went  in.  Then  you  can  hand 
the  box  out  the  back  window  to  me,  —  I 
can  climb  up  high  enough  to  reach  it,  — 
and  you  can  scuttle  down,  and  we'll  be 
off,  having  the  best  rig  on  Williamson 
Green  that  I  ever  heard  of  in  my  born 
days.' 

"I  was  a  very  active  boy,  used  to  climb 
ing  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  and  I  had 
no  doubt  that  I  could  easily  get  into  the 
house;  but  I  did  not  fancy  my  father's 
scheme. 

"  « Suppose,'  I  said,  « that  Mr.  William 
son  Green  should  wake  up  and  see  me ; 
what  could  I  say  ?  How  could  I  explain 
my  situation  ? ' 

" '  You  needn't  say  anything,'  said  my 
father.  '  If  he  wakes  up  blow  out  the 
light  and  scoot.  If  you  happen  to  have 
the  box  in  your  hand  drop  it  out  the 


THEKE  BUEGLAES.  43 

back  window  and  then  slip  down  after  it. 
He  won't  see  us ;  but  if  he  does  he  cannot 
catch  us  before  we  get  to  the  boat ;  but  if 
he  should,  however,  I'll  have  to  explain 
the  matter  to  him,  and  the  joke  will  be 
against  me ;  bu  £  I  shall  get  my  instru 
ments,  which  is  the  main  point,  after  all.' 

"  I  did  not  argue  with  my  father,  for 
he  was  a  man  who  hated  to  be  differed 
with,  and  I  agreed  to  help  him  carry  out 
his  little  joke.  We  took  off  our  shoes 
and  walked  quietly  to  the  back  of  the 
house.  My  father  stood  below,  and  I 
climbed  up  the  trellis  under  the  back 
window,  which  he  pointed  out.  The 
window-sash  was  down  all  but  a  little 
crack  to  let  in  air,  and  I  raised  it  so 
slowly  and  gently  that  I  made  no  noise. 
Then  without  any  trouble  at  all  I  got  into 
the  room. 

"  I  found  myself  in  a  moderate-sized 
chamber,  into  which  a  faint  light  came 
from  a  door  opposite  the  window.  Hav 
ing  been  several  hours  out  in  the  night 
my  eyes  had  become  so  accustomed  to 
darkness  that  this  light  was  comparatively 
strong  and  I  could  see  everything. 

"  Looking  about  me  my  eyes  fell  on  a 
little  bedstead,  on  which  lay  one  of  the 


44  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

most  beautiful  infants  I  ever  beheld  in 
my  life.  Its  golden  hair  lay  in  ringlets 
upon  the  pillow.  Its  eyes  were  closed, 
but  its  soft  cheeks  had  in  them  a  rosy 
tinge  which  almost  equalled  the  colour  of 
its  dainty  little  lips,  slightly  opened  as  it 
softly  breathed  and  dreamed."  At  this 
point  I  saw  my  wife  look  quickly  at  the 
bedroom  key  she  had  in  her  hand.  I 
knew  she  was  thinking  of  George  Wil 
liam. 

"  I  stood  entranced,"  continued  the 
burglar,  "  gazing  upon  this  babe,  for  I  was 
very  fond  of  children ;  but  I  remembered 
that  I  must  not  waste  time,  and  stepped 
softly  into  the  next  room.  There  I  beheld 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williamson  Green  in  bed, 
both  fast  asleep,  the  gentleman  breathing 
a  little  hard.  In  a  corner,  just  where  my 
father  told  me  I  should  find  it,  stood  the 
box  upon  the  table. 

"  But  I  could  not  immediately  pick  it  up 
and  depart.  The  beautiful  room  in  which 
I  found  myself  was  a  revelation  to  me. 
Until  that  moment  I  had  not  known  that 
I  had  tastes  and  sympathies  of  a  higher 
order  than  might  have  been  expected  of 
the  youthful  son  of  a  boat-builder.  Those 
artistic  furnishings  aroused  within  a  love 


THREE   BURGLARS.  45 

of  the  beautiful  which  I  did  not  know  I 
possessed.  The  carpets,  the  walls,  the 
pictures,  the  hangings  in  the  windows, 
the  furniture,  the  ornaments,  —  every 
thing,  in  fact,  impressed  me  with  such  a 
delight  that  I  did  not  wish  to  move  or 
go  away. 

"  Into  my  young  soul  there  came  a  long 
ing.  4  Oh  ! '  I  said  to  myself,  *  that  my 
parents  had  belonged  to  the  same  social 
grade  as  that  worthy  couple  reposing  in 
that  bed  ;  and  oh  !  that  I,  in  my  infancy, 
had  been  as  beautiful  and  as  likely  to  be 
so  carefully  nurtured  and  cultured  as  that 
sweet  babe  in  the  next  room.'  I  almost 
heaved  a  sigh  as  I  thought  of  the  differ 
ence  between  the^-  surroundings  and  my 
own,  but  I  checked  myself ;  it  would  not 
do  to  made  a  noise  and  spoil  my  father's 
joke. 

"  There  were  a  great  many  things  in 
that  luxurious  apartment  which  it  would 
have  delighted  me  to  look  upon  and  ex 
amine,  but  I  forbore. 

"  I  wish  I'd  been  there,"  said  the  stout 
man  ;  "  there  wouldn't  have  been  any  for- 
bearin'." 

The  speaker  turned  sharply  upon  him. 

"Don't    you   interrupt  me   again,"   he 


46  THE  STOItlES   OF  THE 

said  angrily.  Then,  instantly  resuming 
his  deferential  tone,  he  continued  the 
story. 

"  But  I  had  come  there  by  the  command 
of  my  parent,  and  this  command  must  be 
obeyed  without  trifling  or  loss  of  time. 
My  father  did  not  approve  of  trifling  or 
loss  of  time.  I  moved  quietly  toward  the 
table  in  the  corner,  on  which  stood  my 
father's  box.  I  was  just  about  to  put  my 
hand  upon  it  when  I  heard  a  slight  move 
ment  behind  me.  I  gave  a  start  and 
glanced  backward.  It  was  Mr.  Williamson 
Green  turning  over  in  his  bed ;  what  if  he 
should  awake  ?  His  back  was  now  toward 
me,  and  my  impulse  was  to  fly  and  leave 
everything  behind  me  ;  but  my  father  had 
ordered  me  to  bring  the  box,  and  he  ex 
pected  his  orders  to  be  obeyed.  I  had 
often  been  convinced  of  that. 

"I  stood  perfectly  motionless  for  a 
minute  or  so,  and  when  the  gentleman 
recommenced  his  regular  and  very  audible 
breathing  I  felt  it  safe  to  proceed  with  my 
task.  Taking  hold  of  the  box  I  found  it 
was  much  heavier  than  I  expected  it  to 
be  ;  but  I  moved  gently  away  with  it  and 
passed  into  the  back  room, 

"  There  I  could  not  refrain  from  stop- 


THREE   BURGLARS.  47 

ping  a  moment  by  the  side  of  the  sleeping 
babe,  upon  whose  cherub-like  face  the  light 
of  the  night  lamp  dimly  shone.  The  little 
child  was  still  sleeping  sweetly,  and  my 
impulse  was  to  stop  and  kiss  it ;  but  I  knew 
that  this  would  be  wrong.  The  infant 
might  awake  and  utter  a  cry  and  my 
father's  joke  be  spoiled.  I  moved  to  the 
open  window,  and  with  some  trouble,  and, 
I  think,  without  any  noise,  I  succeeded  in 
getting  out  upon  the  trellis  with  the  box 
under  my  arm.  The  descent  was  awkward, 
but  my  father  was  a  tall  man,  and,  reach 
ing  upward,  relieved  me  of  my  burden 
before  I  got  to  the  ground. 

44  4 1  didn't  remember  it  was  so  heavy/ 
he  whispered,  4  or  I  should  have  given  you 
a  rope  to  lower  it  down  by.  If  you  had 
dropped  it  and  spoiled  my  instruments, 
and  made  a  lot  of  noise  besides,  I  should 
have  been  angry  enough.' 

44 1  was  very  glad  my  father  was  not 
angry,  and  following  him  over  the  green 
sward  we  quickly  reached  the  boat,  where 
the  box  was  stowed  away  under  the  bow 
to  keep  it  from  injury. 

44  We  pushed  off  as  quietly  as  possible 
and  rowed  swiftly  down  the  river.  When 
we  had  gone  about  a  mile  I  suddenly 


48  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

dropped  my  oar  with  an  exclamation  of 
dismay. 

"'What's  the  matter?1  cried  my 
father. 

" '  Oh,  I  have  done  a  dreadful  thing  I '  I 
said.  '  Oh,  father,  I  must  go  back  ! ; 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  at  this  my 
father  swore. 

" 4  What  do  you  want  to  go  back  for  ?  ' 
he  said. 

"  i  Just  to  think  of  it !  I  have  left  open 
the  window  in  which  that  beautiful  child 
was  sleeping.  If  it  should  take  cold  and 
die  from  the  damp  air  of  the  river  blowing 
upon  it  I  should  never  forgive  myself. 
Oh,  if  I  had  only  thought  of  climbing  up 
the  trellis  again  and  pulling  down  that 
sash  !  I  am  sure  I  could  go  back  and  do 
it  without  making  the  least  noise.'  My 
father  gave  a  grunt ;  but  what  the  grunt 
meant  I  do  not  know,  and  for  a  few  mo 
ments  he  was  silent,  and  then  he  said :  - 

"  '  Thomas,  you  cannot  go  back ;  the  dis 
tance  is  too  great,  the  tide  is  against  us, 
and  it  is  time  that  you  and  I  were  both  in 
our  beds.  Nothing  may  happen  to  that 
baby ;  but,  attend  to  my  words  now,  if  any 
harm  should  come  to  that  child  it  will  go 
hard  with  you.  If  it  should  die  it  would 


THREE   BURGLARS.  49 

be  of  no  use  for  you  to  talk  about  practi 
cal  jokes.  You  would  be  held  responsible 
for  its  death.  I  was  going  to  say  to  you 
that  it  might  be  as  well  for  you  not  to  say 
anything  about  this  little  venture  until  I 
had  seen  how  Williamson  Green  took  the 
joke.  Some  people  get  angry  with  very 
little  reason,  although  I  hardly  believe  he's 
that  sort  of  a  man ;  but  now  things  are  dif 
ferent.  He  thinks  all  the  world  of  that 
child,  which  is  the  only  one  they've  got ; 
and  if  you  want  to  stay  outside  of  jail  or 
the  house  of  refuge  I  warn  you  never  to 
say  a  word  of  where  3*011  have  been  this 
night.' 

"  With  this  he  began  to  row  again,  and 
I  followed  his  example,  but  with  a  very 
heavy  heart.  All  that  night  I  dreamt  of 
the  little  child  with  the  damp  night  winds 
blowing  in  upon  it/' 

"Did  you  ever  hear  if  it  caught  cold?" 
.asked  Aunt  Martha. 

"  No,"  replied  the  burglar,  "  I  never  did. 
I  mentioned  the  matter  to  my  father,  and 
he  said  that  he  had  great  fears  upon  the 
subject,  for  although  he  had  written  to 
Williamson  Green,  asking  him  to  return 
the  instruments,  he  had  not  seen  him  or 
heard  from  him,  and  he  was  afraid  that  the 


50  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

child  had  died  or  was  dangerously  sick. 
Shortly  after  that  my  father  sent  me  on  a 
little  trip  to  the  Long  Island  coast  to  col 
lect  some  bills  from  people  for  whom  he 
had  done  work.  He  gave  me  money  to 
stay  a  week  or  two  at  the  seashore,  saying 
that  the  change  would  do  me  good ;  and  it 
was  while  I  was  away  on  this  delightful 
holiday  that  an  event  occurred  which  had 
a  most  disastrous  effect  upon  my  future 
life.  My  father  was  arrested  for  burglary  ! 

"  It  appeared  —  and  I  cannot  tell  you 
how  shocked  I  was  when  I  discovered  the 
truth  —  that  the  box  which  I  had  carried 
away  did  not  contain  nautical  instruments, 
but  was  filled  with  valuable  plate  and 
jewels.  My  unfortunate  father  heard  from 
a  man  who  had  been  discharged  from  the 
service  of  the  family  whose  house  he  had 
visited  —  whose  name,  by  the  way,  was 
not  Green  —  where  the  box  containing  the 
valuables  mentioned  was  always  placed  at 
night,  and  he  had  also  received  accurate 
information  in  regard  to  the  situation  of  the 
rooms  and  the  best  method  of  gaining  ac 
cess  to  them. 

"  I  believe  that  some  arrangement  had 
been  made  between  my  father  and  this 
discharged  servant  in  regard  to  a  division 


THREE   BURGLARS.  51 

of  the  contents  of  the  box,  and  it  was  on 
account  of  a  disagreement  on  this  subject 
that  the  man  became  very  angry,  and  after 
pocketing  what  my  father  thought  was  his 
fair  share  he  departed  to  unknown  regions, 
leaving  behind  a  note  to  the  police  which 
led  to  my  father's  arrest." 

"  That  was  a  mean  trick,"  said  Aunt 
Martha. 

The  burglar  looked  at  her  gratefully. 

"  In  the  lower  spheres  of  life,  madam, 
such  things  often  happen.  Some  of  the 
plate  and  jewels  were  found  in  my  father's 
possession,  and  he  was  speedily  tried  and 
sentenced  to  a  long  term  of  imprisonment. 
And  now,  can  you  imagine,  ladies,"  said 
the  tall  burglar,  apparently  having  become 
satisfied  to  address  himself  to  Aunt  Martha 
as  well  as  my  wife,  "  the  wretched  position 
in  which  I  found  myself?  I  was  up 
braided  as  the  son  of  a  thief.  I  soon  found 
myself  without  home,  without  occupation, 
and,  alas !  without  good  reputation.  I  was 
careful  not  to  mention  my  volmitary  con 
nection  with  my  father's  crime  for  fear 
that  should  I  do  so  I  might  be  compelled 
to  make  a  statement  which  might  increase 
the  severity  of  his  punishment.  For  this 
reason  I  did  not  dare  to  make  inquiries 


52  THE  STORIES   OF    THE 

concerning  the  child  in  wliom  I  had  taken 
such  an  interest,  and  whose  little  life  I 
had,  perhaps,  imperilled.  I  never  knew, 
ladies,  whether  that  infant  grew  up  or  not. 

"  But  I,  alas !  grew  up  to  a  life  of  hard 
ship  and  degradation.  It  would  be  impos 
sible  for  persons  in  your  sphere  of  life  to 
understand  what  I  now  was  obliged  to 
suffer.  Suitable  employment  I  could  not 
obtain,  because  I  was  the  son  of  a  burglar. 
With  a  father  in  the  State  prison  it  was  of 
no  use  for  me  to  apply  for  employment  at 
any  respectable  place  of  business.  I  la 
boured  at  on 3  thing  a,r  d  another,  sometimes 
engaging  in  the  most  menial  employments. 
I  also  had  been  educated  and  brought  up 
by  my  dear  mother  for  a  very  different 
career.  Sometimes  I  managed  to  live 
fairly  well,  sometimes  I  suffered.  Always 
I  suffered  from  the  stigma  of  my  father's 
crime  ;  always  in  the  eyes  of  the  commu 
nity  in  which  I  lived  —  a  community,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  incapable,  as  a  rule,  of  making 
correct  judgments  in  delicate  cases  like 
these  —  I  was  looked  upon  as  belonging  to 
the  ranks  of  the  dishonest.  It  was  a  hard 
lot,  and  sometimes  almost  impossible  to 
bear  up  under. 

"I   have   spoken   at   length,    ladies,  in 


THREE   BURGLARS.  53 

order  that  you  may  understand  my  true 
position ;  and  I  wish  to  say  that  I  have 
never  felt  the  crushing  weight  of  my 
father's  disgrace  more  deeply  than  I  felt  it 
last  evening.  This  man,"  nodding  toward 
the  stout  burglar,  "  came  to  me  shortly 
after  I  had  eaten  my  supper,  which  hap 
pened  to  be  a  frugal  one,  and  said  to  me  :  — 

"  '  Thomas,  I  have  some  business  to  at 
tend  to  to-night,  in  which  }TOU  can  help 
me  if  you  choose.  I  know  you  are  a  good 
mechanic.' 

" 4  If  it  is  work  that  will  pay  me,'  I 
answered,  c  I  should  be  very  glad  to  do  it, 
for  I  am  greatly  in  need  of  money.' 

"  '  It  will  pay,'  said  he  ;  and  I  agreed  to 
assist  him. 

"  As  we  were  walking  to  the  station,  as 
the  business  to  be  attended  to  was  out  of 
town,  this  man,  whose  name  is  James  Bar 
low,  talked  to  me  in  such  a  way  that  I 
began  to  suspect  that  he  intended  to  com 
mit  a  burglary,  and  openly  charged  him 
with  this  evil  purpose.  '  You  may  call  it 
burglary  or  anything  else  you  please,' 
said  he;  'property  is  very  unequally  di 
vided  in  this  world,  and  it  is  my  business 
in  life  to  make  wrong  things  right  as  far 
as  I  can.  I  am  going  to  the  house  of  a 


54  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

man  who  has  a  great  deal  more  than  he 
needs,  and  I  haven't  anything  like  as  much 
as  I  need ;  and  so  I  intend  to  take  some 
of  his  overplus,  —  not  very  much,  for  when 
I  leave  his  house  he  will  still  be  a  rich 
man,  and  I'll  be  a  poor  one.  But  for  a 
time  my  family  will  not  starve.' 

"  '  Argue  as  you  please,  James  Barlow,' 
I  said,  4  what  you  are  going  to  do  is  noth 
ing  less  than  burglary.' 

" '  Of  course  it  is,'  said  he  ;  '  but  it's  all 
right,  all  the  same.  There  are  a  lot  of 
people,  Thomas,  who  are  not  as  particular 
about  these  things  as  they  used  to  be,  and 
there  is  no  use  for  you  to  seem  better  than 
your  friends  and  acquaintances.  Now,  to 
show  there  are  not  so  many  bigots  as  there 
used  to  be,  there's  a  young  man  going 
to  meet  us  at  the  station  who  is  greatly 
interested  in  the  study  of  social  problems. 
He  is  going  along  with  us  just  to  look  into 
this  sort  of  thing  and  study  it.  It  is  im 
possible  for  him  to  understand  people  of 
our  class,  or  do  anything  to  make  their 
condition  better,  if  he  does  not  thoroughly 
investigate  their  methods  of  life  and 
action.  He's  going  along  just  as  a  stu 
dent,  nothing  more  ;  and  he  may  be  down 
on  the  whole  thing  for  all  I  know.  He 


THREE  BURGLARS.  55 

pays  me  five  dollars  for  the  privilege  of 
accompanying  me,  and  whether  he  likes  it 
or  not  is  his  business.  I  want  you  to  go 
along  as  a  mechanic,  and  if  your  con 
science  won't  let  you  take  any  share  in 
the  profit,  I'll  just  pay  you  for  your  time.' 

" '  James  Barlow,'  said  I,  '  I  am  going 
with  you,  but  for  a  purpose  far  different 
from  that  you  desire.  I  shall  keep  by 
your  side,  and  if  I  can  dissuade  you  from 
committing  the  crime  you  intend  I  shall 
do  so ;  but  if  I  fail  in  this,  and  you  deliber 
ately  break  into  a  house  for  purposes  of 
robbery,  I  shall  arouse  the  inmates  and 
frustrate  your  crime.'  Now,  James  Bar 
low,"  said  he,  turning  to  the  stout  man 
with  a  severe  expression  on  his  strongly 
marked  face,  "  is  not  what  I  have  said  per 
fectly  true?  Did  you  not  say  to  me  every 
word  which  I  have  just  repeated?  " 

The  stout  man  looked  at  the  other  in  a 
very  odd  way.  His  face  seemed  to  broad 
en  and  redden,  and  he  merely  closed  his 
eyes  as  he  promptly  answered :  — 

"  That's  just  what  I  said,  every  blasted 
word  of  it.  You've  told  it  fair  and  square, 
leavin'  off  nothin'  and  puttin'  in  nothiii'. 
You've  told  the  true  facts  out  and  out,  up 
and  down,  without  a  break." 


56  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"Now,  ladies,"  continued  the  tall  man, 
"  you  see  my  story  is  corroborated,  and  I 
will  conclude  it  by  saying  that  when  this 
house,  in  spite  of  my  protest,  had  been 
opened,  I  entered  with  the  others  with  the 
firm  intention  of  stepping  into  a  hallway 
or  some  other  suitable  place  and  announc 
ing  in  a  loud  voice  that  the  house  was 
about  to  be  robbed.  As  soon  as  I  found 
the  family  aroused  and  my  purpose  ac 
complished,  I  intended  to  depart  as  quickly 
as  possible,  for,  on  account  of  the  shadow 
cast  upon  me  by  my  father's  crime,  I  must 
never  be  found  even  in  the  vicinity  of 
criminal  action.  But  as  I  was  passing 
through  this  room  I  could  not  resist  the 
invitation  of  Barlow  to  partake  of  the  re 
freshments  which  we  saw  upon  the  table. 
I  was  faint  from  fatigue  and  insufficient 
nourishment.  It  seemed  a  very  little  thing 
to  taste  a  drop  of  wine  in  a  house  where 
I  was  about  to  confer  a  great  benefit.  I 
yielded  to  the  temptation,  and  now  I  am 
punished.  Partaking  even  that  little 
which  did  not  belong  to  me,  I  find  myself 
placed  in  my  present  embarrassing  posi 
tion." 

"  You  are  right  there,"  said  I,  "  it  must 
be  embarrassing ;  but  before  we  have  any 


THREE  BURGLARS.  57 

more  reflections,  there  are  some  practical 
points  about  which  I  wish  you  would  in 
form  me.  How  did  that  wicked  man,  Mr. 
Barlow  I  think  you  called  him,  get  into 
this  house  ?  " 

The  tall  man  looked  at  me  for  a  moment, 
as  if  in  doubt  what  he  should  say ;  and  then 
his  expression  of  mingled  hopelessness  and 
contrition  changed  into  one  of  earnest 
frankness. 

"  I  will  tell  you,  sir,  exactly,"  he  said ; 
"I  have  no  wish  to  conceal  anything.  I 
have  long  wanted  to  have  an  opportunity 
to  inform  occupants  of  houses,  especially 
those  in  the  suburbs,  of  the  insufficiency 
of  their  window  fastenings.  Familiar  with 
mechanic  devices  as  I  am,  and  accustomed 
to  think  of  such  things,  the  precautions  of 
householders  sometimes  move  me  to  laugh 
ter.  Your  outer  doors,  front  and  back,  are 
of  heavy  wood,  chained,  locked,  arid  bolted, 
often  double  locked  and  bolted ;  but  your 
lower  windows  are  closed  in  the  first  place 
by  the  lightest  kind  of  shutters,  which  are 
verj  seldom  fastened  at  all,  and  in  the 
second  place  by  a  little  contrivance  con* 
necting  the  two  sashes,  which  is  held  in 
place  by  a  couple  of  baby  screws.  If  these 
contrivances  are  of  the  best  kind  and  can- 


58  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

not  be  opened  from  the  outside  with  a  knife- 
blade  or  piece  of  tin,  the  burglar  puts  a 
chisel  or  jimmy  under  the  lower  sash  and 
gently  presses  it  upward,  when  the  baby 
screws  come  out  as  easily  as  if  they  were 
babies'  milk-teeth.  Not  for  a  moment 
does  the  burglar  trouble  himself  about  the 
front  door,  with  its  locks  and  chains  and 
bolts.  He  goes  to  the  window,  with  its 
baby  screws,  which  might  as  well  be  left 
open  as  shut,  for  all  the  hindrance  it  is  to 
his  entrance ;  and  if  he  meddleji  with  the 
door  at  all,  it  is  simply  to  open  it  from  the 
inside,  so  that  when  he  is  ready  to  depart 
he  may  do  so  easily." 

"  But  all  that  does  not  apply  to  my  win 
dows,"  I  said.  "  They  are  not  fastened 
that  way." 

"No,  sir,"  said  the  man,  "your  lower 
shutters  are  solid  and  strong  as  your  doors. 
This  is  right,  for  if  shutters  are  intended. 
to  obstruct  entrance  to  a  house  they  should' 
be  as  strong  as  the  doors.  When  James 
Barlow  first  reached  this  house  he  tried  his 
jimmy  on  one  of  the  shutters  in  this  main 
building,  but  he  could  not  open  it.  The 
heavy  bolt  inside  was  too  strong  for  him. 
Then  he  tried  another  near  by  with  the 
same  result.  You  will  find  the  shutters 


THREE   BURGLARS.  59 

splintered  at  the  bottom.  Then  he  walked 
to  the  small  addition  at  the  back  of  the 
house,  where  the  kitchen  is  located.  Here 
the  shutters  were  smaller,  and  of  course 
the  inside  bolts  were  smaller.  Everything 
in  harmony.  Builders  are  so  careful  now- 
a-days  to  have  everything  in  harmony. 
When  Barlow  tried  his  jimmy  on  one  of 
these  shutters  the  bolt  resisted  for  a  time, 
but  its  harmonious  proportions  caused  it 
to  bend,  and  it  was  soon  drawn  from  its 
staples  and  the  shutter  opened,  and  of 
course  the  sash  was  opened  as  I  told  you 
sashes  are  opened." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  shutters  and  sashes  of 
mine  shall  never  be  opened  in  that  way 
again." 

"  It  was  with  that  object  that  I  spoke  to 
you,"  said  the  tall  man.  "  I  wish  you  to 
understand  the  faults  of  your  fastenings, 
and  any  information  I  can  give  you  which 
will  better  enable  you  to  protect  your 
house,  I  shall  be  glad  to  give,  as  a  slight 
repayment  for  the  injury  I  may  have 
helped  to  do  to  you  in  the  way  of  broken 
glass  and  spoiled  carpet.  I  have  made 
window  fastenings  an  especial  study,  and, 
if  you  employ  me  for  the  purpose,  111 
guarantee  that  I  will  put  your  house  into  a 


60  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

condition  which  will  be  absolutely  burglar 
proof.  If  I  do  not  do  this  to  your  satis 
faction,  I  will  not  ask  to  be  paid  a  cent." 

u  We  will  not  consider  that  proposition 
now,1'  I  said,  "  for  you  may  have  other  en 
gagements  which  would  interfere  with  the 
proposed  job."  I  was  about  to  say  that  I 
thought  we  had  enough  of  this  sort  of 
story,  when  Aunt  Martha  interrupted  me. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  she  said,  speaking  to 
the  tall  burglar,  "  that  you  have  instincts, 
and  perhaps  convictions,  of  what  is  right 
and  proper  ;  but  it  is  plain  that  you  allow 
yourself  to  be  led  and  influenced  by  un 
principled  companions.  You  should  avoid 
even  the  outskirts  of  evil.  You  may  not 
know  that  the  proposed  enterprise  is  a 
bad  one,  but  you  should  not  take  part  in 
it  unless  you  know  that  it  is  a  good  one. 
In  such  cases  you  should  be  rigid." 

The  man  turned  toward  my  aunt,  and 
looked  steadfastly  at  her,  and  as  he  gazed 
his  face  grew  sadder  and  sadder. 

"  Rigid,"  he  repeated  ;  "  that  is  hard." 

"  Yes,"  I  remarked,  "  that  is  one  of  the 
meanings  of  the  word." 

Paying  no  attention  to  me,  he  contin 
ued  :  — 

"  Madam,"  said  he,  with  a  deep  pathos 


THREE   JtUHd'LAHX.  61 

in  his  voice,  "  no  one  can  be  better  aware 
than  I  am  that  I  have  made  many  mis 
takes  in  the  course  of  my  life  ;  but  that 
quality  on  which  I  think  I  have  reason  to 
be  satisfied  with  myself  is  my  rigidity 
when  I  know  a  thing  is  wrong.  There 
occurs  to  me  now  an  instance  in  my 
career  which  will  prove  to  3^011  what  I  say. 

"  I  knew  a  man  by  the  name  of  Spot- 
kirk,  who  had  invented  a  liniment  for  the 
cure  of  boils.  He  made  a  great  success 
with  his  liniment,  which  he  called  Boil- 
ene,  and  at  the  time  I  speak  of  he  was  a 
very  rich  man. 

"One  day  Spotkirk  came  to  me  and 
told  me  he  wanted  me  to  do  a  piece  of 
business  for  him,  for  which  he  would  pay 
me  twenty-five  dollars.  I  was  glad  to 
hear  this,  for  I  was  greatly  in  need  of 
money,  and  I  asked  him  what  it  was  he 
wanted  me  to  do. 

"  4  You  know  Timothy  Barker,'  said  he. 
6  Well,  Timothy  and  I  have  had  a  misun 
derstanding,  and  I  want  you  to  be  a 
referee  or  umpire  between  us,  to  set  things 
straight.' 

"  4  Very  good,'  said  I,  c  and  what  is  the 
point  of  difference  ?  ' 

44  4  I'll  put  the  whole  thing  before  you/ 


62  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

said  lie,  c  for  of  course  you  must  under 
stand  it  or  you  can't  talk  properly  to 
Timothy.  Now,  you  see,  in  the  manufact 
ure  of  my  Boilene  I  need  a  great  quantity 
of  good  yellow  gravel,  and  Timothy  Bar 
ker  has  got  a  gravel  pit  of  that  kind. 
Two  years  ago  I  agreed  with  Timothy 
that  he  should  furnish  me  with  all  the 
gravel  I  should  want  for  one-eighth  of  one 
per  cent,  of  the  profits  on  the  Boilene.  We 
didn't  sign  no  papers,  for  which  I  am  sorry, 
but  that  was  the  agreement  ;  and  now 
Timothy  says  that  one-eighth  of  one  per 
cent,  isn't  enough.  He  has  gone  wild 
about  it,  and  actually  wants  ten  per  cent., 
and  threatens  to  sue  me  if  I  don't  give  it 
to  him.' 

"  ;  Are  you  obliged  to  have  gravel  ? 
Wouldn't  something  else  do  for  your  pur 
pose?' 

" 4  There's  nothing  as  cheap,'  said  Spot- 
kirk.  4  You  see  I  have  to  have  lots  and 
lots  of  it.  Every  day  I  fill  a  great  tank 
with  the  gravel  and  let  water  onto  it. 
This  soaks  through  the  gravel,  and 
comes  out  a  little  pipe  in  the  bottom  of 
the  tank  of  a  beautiful  yellow  color; 
sometimes  it  is  too  dark,  and  then  I  have 
to  thin  it  with  more  wa  ter.' 


TU11EE   BURGLARS.  63 

"  4  Then  you  bottle  it,'  I  said. 

" l  Yes,'  said  Spotkirk ;  '  then  there  is 
all  the  expense  and  labour  of  bottling  it.' 

"  '  Then  you  put  nothing  more  into  it,' 
said  I. 

"  '  What  more  goes  into  it  before  it's 
corked,'  said  Spotkirk,  ;  is  my  business. 
That's  my  secret,  and  nobody's  been  able 
to  find  it  out.  People  have  had  Boilene 
analyzed  by  chemists,  but  they  can't  find 
out  the  hidden  secret  of  its  virtue.  There's 
one  thing  that  everybody  who  has  used  it 
does  know,  and  that  is  that  it  is  a  sure 
cure  for  boils.  If  applied  for  two  or  three 
days  according  to  directions,  and  at  the 
proper  stage,  the  boil  is  sure  to  disappear. 
As  a  proof  of  its  merit  I  have  sold  seven 
hundred  and  forty -eight  thousand  bottles 
this  year.' 

"  '  At  a  dollar  a  bottle  ? '  said  I. 

"  ;  That  is  the  retail  price,'  said  he. 

" '  Now,  then,  Mr.  Spotkirk,'  said  I, '  it 
will  not  be  easy  to  convince  Timothy 
Barker  that  one-eighth  of  one  per  cent,  is 
enough  for  him.  I  suppose  he  hauls  his 
gravel  to  your  factory  ?  ' 

" '  Hauling's  got  nothing  to  do  with  it,' 
said  he  ;  c  gravel  is  only  ten  cents  a  load 
anywhere,  and  if  I  choose  I  could  put  my 


64  THE  STOniES   OF  THE 

factory  right  in  the  middle  of  a  gravel  pit. 
Timothy  Barker  has  nothing  to  complain 
of, 

"  '  But  he  knows  yon  are  making  a  lot 
of  money,'  said  I,  '  and  it  will  be  a  hard 
job  to  talk  him  over.  Mr.  Spotkirk,  it's 
worth  every  cent  of  fifty  dollars.' 

" 4 Now  look  here,'  said  he  ;  'if  you  get 
Barker  to  sign  a  paper  that  will  suit  me, 
I'll  give  you  fifty  dollars.  I'd  rather  do 
that  than  have  him  bring  a  suit.  If  the 
matter  comes  up  in  the  courts  those  ras 
cally  lawyers  will  be  trying  to  find  out 
what  I  put  into  my  Boilene,  and  that  sort 
of  thing  would  be  sure  to  hurt  my  busi 
ness.  It  won't  be  so  hard  to  get  a  hold 
on  Barker  if  you  go  to  work  the  right 
way.  You  can  just  let  him  understand 
that  you  know  all  about  that  robbery  at 
Bonsall's  clothing-store,  where  he  kept 
the  stolen  goods  in  his  barn,  covered  up 
with  hay,  for  nearly  a  week.  It  would  be 
a  good  thing  for  Timothy  Barker  to  un 
derstand  that  somebody  else  beside  me 
knows  about  that  business,  and  if  you 
bring  it  in  right,  it  will  fetch  him  around, 
sure.' 

"  I  kept  quiet  for  a  minute  or  two,  and 
then  I  said :  — 


THREE    liUliGLAliX.  65 

"  'Mr.  Spotkirk,  this  is  an  important  busi 
ness.  I  can't  touch  it  under  a  hundred 
dollars.'  He  looked  hard  at  me,  and  then 
he  said  :  - 

" '  Do  it  right,  and  a  hundred  dollars  is 
yours.' 

"  After  that  I  went  to  see  Timothy 
Barker,  and  had  a  talk  with  him.  Tim 
othy  was  boiling  over,  and  considered  him 
self  the  worst-cheated  man  in  the  world. 
He  had  only  lately  found  out  how  Spot- 
kirk  made  his  Boilene,  and  what  a  big  sale 
he  had  for  it,  and  he  was  determined  to 
have  more  of  the  profits. 

" '  Just  look  at  it ! '  he  shouted  ;  4  when 
Spotkirk  has  washed  out  my  gravel  it's 
worth  more  than  it  was  before,  and  he 
sells  it  for  twenty-five  cents  a  load  to  put 
on  gentlemen's  places.  Even  out  of  that  he 
makes  a  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent,  profit/ 

"  I  talked  a  good  deal  more  with  Tim 
othy  Barker,  and  found  out  a  good  many 
things  about  Spotkirk's  dealings  with  him, 
and  then  in  an  off-hand  manner  I  men 
tioned  the  matter  of  the  stolen  goods  in 
his  barn,  just  as  if  I  had  known  all  about 
it  from  the  very  first.  At  this  Timothy 
stopped  shouting,  and  became  as  meek  as 
a  mouse.  He  said  nobody  was  as  sorry  as 


66  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

he  was  when  he  found  the  goods  concealed 
in  his  barn  had  been  stolen,  and  that  if 
he  had  known  it  before  the  thieves  took 
them  away  he  should  have  informed  the 
authorities ;  and  then  he  went  on  to  tell 
me  how  he  got  so  poor  and  so  hard  up  by 
giving  his  whole  time  to  digging  and  haul 
ing  gravel  for  Spotkirk,  and  neglecting  his 
little  farm,  that  he  did  not  know  what 
was  going  to  become  of  him  'and  his  fam 
ily  if  he  couldn't  make  better  terms  with 
Spotkirk  for  the  future,  and  he  asked  me 
very  earnestly  to  help  him  in  this  business 
if  I  could. 

"  Now,  then,  I  set  myself  to  work  to  con 
sider  this  business.  Here  was  a  rich  man 
oppressing  a  poor  one,  and  here  was  this 
rich  man  offering  me  one  hundred  dollars 
—  which  in  my  eyes  was  a  regular  for 
tune  —  to  help  him  get  things  so  fixed  that 
he  could  keep  on  oppressing  the  poor  one. 
Now,  then,  here  was  a  chance  for  me  to  show 
my  principles.  Here  was  a  chance  for  me 
to  show  myself  what  you,  madam,  call 
rigid;  and  rigid  I  was.  I  just  set  that 
dazzling  one  hundred  dollars  aside,  much 
as  I  wanted  it.  Much  as  I  actually  needed 
it,  I  wouldn't  look  at  it,  or  think  of  it.  I 
just  said  to  myself,  '  If  you  can  do  any 


THREE   BURGLARS.  67 

good  ill  this  matter,  do  it  for  the  poor  man ;' 
and  I  did  do  it  for  Timothy  Barker  with  his 
poor  wife  and  seven  children,  only  two  of 
them  old  enough  to  help  him  in  the  gravel 
pit.  I  went  to  Spotkirk  and  I  talked  to 
him,  and  I  let  him  see  that  if  Timothy 
Barker  showed  up  the  Boilene  business,  as 
he  threatened  to  do,  it  would  be  a  bad  day 
for  the  Spotkirk  family.  He  tried  hard  to 
talk  me  over  to  his  side,  but  I  was  rigid, 
madam,-  I  was  rigid,  and  the  business 
ended  in  my  getting  seven  per  cent,  of  the 
profits  of  Boilene  for  that  poor  man,  Tim 
othy  Barker,  and  his  large  family;  and 
their  domestic  prosperity  is  entirely  due 
—  I  say  it  without  hesitation  —  to  my 
efforts  on  their  behalf,  and  to  my  rigidity 
in  standing  up  for  the  poor  against  the 
rich." 

"Of  course,"  I  here  remarked,  "you 
don't  care  to  mention  anything  about  the 
money  you  squeezed  out  of  Timothy  Bar 
ker  by  means  of  your  knowledge  that  he 
had  been  a  receiver  of  stolen  goods,  and  I 
suppose  the  Boilene  man  gave  you  some 
thing  to  get  the  percentage  brought  down 
from  ten  per  cent,  to  seven." 

The  tall  burglar  turned  and  looked  at 
me  with  an  air  of  saddened  resignation.  - 


68  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"  Of  course,"  said  he,  "  it  is  of  no  use 
for  a  man  in  my  position  to  endeavour  to 
set  himself  right  in  the  eyes  of  one  who  is 
prejudiced  against  him.  My  hope  is  that 
those  present  who  are  not  prejudiced  will 
give  my  statements  the  consideration  they 
deserve." 

"  Which  they  certainly  will  do,"  I  con 
tinued.  Turning  to  my  wife  and  Aunt 
Martha,  "  As  you  have  heard  this  fine 
story,  I  think  it  is  time  for  you  to  retire." 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  retire,"  promptly  re 
turned  Aunt  Martha.  "  I  was  never  more 
awake  in  my  life,  and  couldn't  go  asleep 
if  I  tried.  What  we  have  heard  may  or 
may  not  be  true,  but  it  furnishes  subjects 
for  reflection  —  serious  reflection.  I  wish 
very  much  to  hear  what  that  man  in  the 
middle  of  the  bench  has  to  say  for  him 
self  ;  I  am  sure  he  has  a  story." 

"  Yes,  ma'am,"  said  the  stout  man,  with 
animation,  "  I've  got  one,  and  I'd  like 
nothiii'  better  than  to  tell  it  to  you  if 
you'll  give  me  a  little  some  thin'  to  wet 
my  lips  with  —  a  little  beer,  or  whiskey 
and  water,  or  anything  you  have  conven 
ient." 

"  Whiskey  and  water  !  "  said  Aunt  Mar 
tha  with  severity.  "  I  should  think  not. 


THREE  BURGLARS.  69 

It  seems  to  me  you  have  had  all  the  intoxi 
cating  liquors  in  this  house  that  you  would 
want." 

"  But  I  don't  think  you're  the  kind  of 
person  who'd  doctor  the  liquor.  This  is 
the  first  gentleman's  house  where  I  ever 
found  anything  of  that  kind." 

"The  worse  for  the  gentleman,"  I  re 
marked.  The  man  grunted. 

"  Well,  ma'am,"  he  said,  "  call  it  any 
thing  you  please  —  milk,  cider,  or,  if  you 
have  nothin'  else,  I'll  take  water.  I  can't 
talk  without  somethin'  soaky." 

My  wife  rose.  "  If  we  are  to  listen  to 
another  story,"  she  said,  "  I  want  some 
thing  to  keep  up  my  strength.  I  shall  go 
into  the  dining-room  and  make  some  tea, 
and  Aunt  Martha  can  give  these  men  some 
of  that  if  she  likes." 

The  ladies  now  left  the  room,  followed 
by  Alice.  Presently  they  called  me,  and, 
leaving  the  burglars  in  charge  of  the  vigi 
lant  David,  I  went  to  them.  I  found  them 
making  tea. 

"  I  have  been  upstairs  to  see  if  George 
William  is  all  right,  and  now  I  want  you 
to  tell  me  what  you  think  of  that  man's 
story,"  said  my  wife. 

"  I  don't  think  it  a  story  at  all,"  said  I. 


70  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"  I  call  it  a  lie.  A  story  is  a  relation  which 
purports  to  be  fiction,  no  matter  how  much 
like  truth  it  may  be,  and  is  intended  to  be 
received  as  fiction.  A  lie  is  a  false  state 
ment  made  with  the  intention  to  deceive, 
and  that  is  what  I  believe  we  have  heard 
to-night." 

"I  agree  with  you  exactly,"  said  my 
wife. 

"  It  may  be,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  "that 
the  man's  story  is  true.  There  are  some 
things  about  it  which  make  me  think  so  ; 
but  if  he  is  really  a  criminal  he  must  have 
had  trials  and  temptations  which  led  him 
into  his  present  mode  of  life.  We  should 
consider  that." 

"  I  have  been  studying  him,"  I  said, 
"and  I  think  he  is  a  born  rascal,  who 
ought  to  have  been  hung  long  ago." 

My  aunt  looked  at  me.  "  John,"  she 
said,  "  if  you  believe  people  are  born  crimi 
nals,  they  ought  to  be  executed  in  their 
infancy.  It  could  be  done  painlessly  by 
electricity,  and  society  would  be  the 
gainer,  although  you  lawyers  would  be  the 
losers.  But  I  do  not  believe  in  your  doc 
trine.  If  the  children  of  the  poor  were 
properly  brought  up  and  educated,  fewer 
of  them  would  grow  to  be  criminals." 


THREE   BURGLARS.  71 

"I  don't  think  this  man  suffered  for 
want  of  education,"  said  my  wife;  uhe 
used  very  good  language ;  that  was  one 
of  the  first  things  that  led  me  to  suspect 
him.  It  is  not  likely  that  sons  of  boat- 
builders  speak  so  correctly  and  express 
themselves  so  well." 

"  Of  course,  I  cannot  alter  your  opin 
ions,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  "  but  the  story 
interested  me,  and  I  very  much  wish  to 
hear  what  that  other  man  has  to  say  for 
himself." 

"  Very  well,"  said  I,  "  you  shall  hear  it ; 
but  I  must  drink  my  tea  and  go  back  to 
the  prisoners." 

"And  I,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  "will  take 
some  tea  to  them.  They  may  be  bad  men, 
but  they  must  not  suffer." 

I  had  been  in  the  library  but  a  few 
moments  when  Aunt  Martha  entered,  fol 
lowed  by  Alice,  who  bore  a  tray  contain 
ing  three  very  large  cups  of  tea  and  some 
biscuit. 

"  Now,  then,"  said  Aunt  Martha  to  me, 
"  if  you  will  untie  their  hands,  I  will  give 
them  some  tea." 

At  these  words  each  burglar  turned 
Ms  eyes  on  me  with  a  quick  glance.  I 
laughed. 


72  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"Hardly,"  said  I.  "I  would  not  be 
willing  to  undertake  the  task  of  tying 
them  up  again,  unless,  indeed,  they  will 
consent  to  drink  some  more  of  my  wine." 

"  Which  we  won't  do,"  said  the  middle 
burglar,  "  and  that's  flat." 

"  Then  they  must  drink  this  tea  with 
their  hands  tied,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  in  a 
tone  of  reproachful  resignation,  and,  tak 
ing  a  cup  from  the  tray,  she  approached 
the  stout  man  and  held  it  up  to  his  lips. 
At  this  act  of  extreme  kindness  we  were 
all  amused,  even  the  burglar's  companions 
smiled,  and  David  so  far  forgot  himself  as 
to  burst  into  a  laugh,  which,  however,  he 
quickly  checked.  The  stout  burglar, 
however,  saw  nothing  to  laugh  at.  He 
drank  the  tea,  and  never  drew  breath  un 
til  the  cup  was  emptied. 

"  I  forgot,"  said  my  aunt,  as  she  removed 
the  cup  from  his  lips,  "  to  ask  you  whether 
you  took  much  or  little  sugar." 

"  Don't  make  no  difference  to  me," 
answered  the  man ;  "  tea  isn't  malt  liquor  ; 
it's  poor  stuff  any  way,  and  it  doesn't 
matter  to  me  whether  it's  got  sugar  in  it 
or  not,  but  it's  moistenin',  and  that's  what 
I  want.  Now,  madam,  I'll  just  say  to  you, 
if  ever  I  break  into  a  room  where  you're 


THREE   BURGLARS.  73 

sleeping  I'll  see  that  you  don't  come  to 
no  harm,  even  if  you  sit  up  in  bed  and 
holier.'! 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Aunt  Martha ;  "  but 
I  hope  you  will  never  again  be  concerned 
in  that  sort  of  business." 

He  grinned.  "  That  depends  on  cir 
cumstances,"  said  he. 

Aunt  Martha  now  offered  the  tall  man 
some  tea,  but  he  thanked  her  very  re 
spectfully,  and  declined.  The  young  man 
also  said  that  he  did  not  care  for  tea,  but 
that  if  the  maid  —  looking  at  Alice  — 
would  give  him  a  glass  of  water  he  would 
be  obliged.  This  was  the  first  time  he 
had  spoken.  His  voice  was  low  and  of  a 
pleasing  tone.  David's  face  grew  dark, 
and  we  could  see  that  he  objected  to  this 
service  from  Alice. 

"  I  will  give  him  the  water  myself," 
said  Aunt  Martha.  This  she  did,  and  I 
noticed  that  the  man's  thirst  was  very 
soon  satisfied.  When  David  had  been 
refreshed,  and  biscuits  refused  by  the 
burglars,  who  could  not  very  well  eat 
them  with  their  hands  tied,  we  all  sat 
down,  and  the  stout  man  began  his  story. 
I  give  it  as  he  told  it,  omitting  some 
coarse  and  rough  expressions,  and  a  good 


74  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

deal  of  slang  which  would  be  unintelli 
gible  to  the  general  reader. 

"  There's  no  use,"  said  the  burglar,  "  for 
me  to  try  and  make  any  of  you  believe 
that  I'm  a  pious  gentleman  under  a  cloud, 
for  I  know  I  don't  look  like  it,  and 
wouldn't  be  likely  to  make  out  a  case." 

At  this  the  tall  man  looked  at  him  very 
severely. 

"I  don't  mean  to  say,"  he  continued, 
"  that  my  friend  here  tried  anything  like 
that.  Every  word  he  said  was  perfectly 
true,  as  I  could  personally  testify  if  I  was 
called  upon  the  stand,  and  what  I'm  goin' 
to  tell  you  is  likewise  solid  fact. 

"  My  father  was  a  cracksman,  and  a 
first-rate  one,  too ;  he  brought  me  up  to 
the  business,  beginning  when  I  was  very 
small.  I  don't  remember  havin'  any 
mother,  so  I'll  leave  her  out.  My  old 
man  was  very  particular ;  he  liked  to  see 
things  done  right.  One  day  I  was  with 
him,  and  we  saw  a  tinner  nailing  a  new 
leader  or  tin  water-spout  to  the  side  of 
a  house. 

" '  Look  here,  young  man,'  says  Dad, 
'  you're  makin'  a  pretty  poor  job  of  that. 
You  don't  put  in  enough  nails,  and  they 
ain't  half  drove  in.  Supposin'  there  was 


THREE   BURGLARS.  75 

a  fire  in  that  house  some  night,  and  the 
family  had  to  come  down  by  the  spout, 
and  your  nails  would  give  way,  and  they'd 
break  their  necks.  What  would  you 
think  then  ?  And  I  can  tell  you  what  it 
is,  young  man,  I  can  appear  ag'in  you  for 
doing  poor  work.' 

"  The  tinner  grumbled,  but  he  used 
more  nails  and  drove  'em  tight,  Dad  and 
me  standin'  by,  an'  looking  at  him.  One 
rainy  night  not  long  after  this  Dad  took 
me  out  with  him  and  we  stopped  in  front 
of  this  house.  4  Now,  Bobbie,'  said  he,  'I 
want  you  to  climb  into  that  open  second- 
story  window,  and  then  slip  down  stairs 
and  open  the  front  door  for  me  ;  the 
family's  at  dinner.' 

"  '  How  am  I  to  get  up,  Dad  ?  '  said  I. 

" 4  Oh,  you  can  go  up  the  spout,'  says 
he  ;  4  I'll  warrant  that  it  will  hold  you. 
I've  seen  to  it  that  it  was  put  on  good 
and  strong.' 

"  I  tried  it,  and  as  far  as  I  can  remem 
ber  I  never  went  up  a  safer  spout." 

"  And  you  opened  the  front  door  ? " 
asked  Aunt  Martha. 

"  Indeed  I  did,  ma'am,"  said  the  burg 
lar,  "  you  wouldn't  catch  me  makin'  no 
mistakes  in  that  line. 


76  THE   STORIES   OF  THE 

"  After  a  while  I  got  too  heavy  to  climb 
spouts,  and  I  took  to  the  regular  business, 
and  did  well  at  it,  too." 

"Do  you  mean  to  say,"  asked  Aunt 
Martha,  "  that  you  willingly  and  premedi- 
tatedly  became  a  thief  and  midnight  rob 
ber  ?  " 

u  That's  what  I  am,  ma'am,"  said  he  ; 
"  I  don't  make  no  bones  about  it.  I'm  a 
number  one,  double-extra,  back-springed, 
copper-fastened  burglar,  with  all  the  at 
tachments  and  noiseless  treadle.  That's 
what  I  am,  and  no  mistake.  There's  all 
kinds  of  businesses  in  this  world,  and 
there's  got  to  be  people  to  work  at  every 
one  of  'em ;  and  when  a  fellow  takes  any 
particular  line,  his  business  is  to  do  it 
well ;  that's  my  motto.  When  I  break 
into  a  house  I  make  it  a  point  to  clean  it 
out  first-class,  and  not  to  carry  away  no 
trash,  nuther.  Of  course,  I've  had  my 
ups  and  my  downs,  like  other  people, — 
preachers  and  doctors  and  storekeepers, 
—  they  all  have  them,  and  I  guess  the 
downs  are  more  amusin'  than  the  ups,  at 
least  to  outsiders.  I've  just  happened  to 
think  of  one  of  them,  and  I'll  let  you  have 
it. 

"  There  was  a  man  I  knew  named  Jerry 


THREE   BURGLARS.  <7 

Hammond,  that  was  a  contractor,  and 
sometimes  he  had  pretty  big  jobs  on  hand, 
buildin'  or  road-makin'  or  somethin'  or 
other.  He'd  contract  to  do  anything, 
would  Jorry,  no  matter  whether  he'd  ever 
done  it  before  or  not.  I  got  to  know  his 
times  and  seasons  for  collecting  money, 
and  I  laid  for  him." 

"  Abominable  meanness  !  "  exclaimed 
my  wife. 

"  It's  all  business,"  said  the  stout  man, 
quite  unabashed.  "  You  don't  catch  a 
doctor  refusin'  to  practise  on  a  friend,  or 
a  lawyer,  nuther,  and  in  our  line  of  busi 
ness  it's  the  same  thing.  It  was  about 
the  end  of  October,  nigh  four  years  ago, 
that  I  found  out  that  Jerry  had  a  lot  of 
money  on  hand.  He'd  been  collectin'  it 
from  different  parties,  and  had  got  home 
too  late  in  the  day  to  put  it  in  the  bank, 
so  says  I  to  myself,  this  is  your  time,  old 
fellow,  and  you'd  better  make  hay  while 
the  sun  shines.  I  was  a  little  afraid  to 
crack  Jerry's  house  by  myself,  for  he's  a 
strong  old  fellow,  so  I  got  a  man  named 
Putty  Henderson  to  go  along  with  me. 
Putty  was  a  big  fellow  and  very  handy 
with  a  jimmy  ;  but  he  was  awful  contrary- 
minded,  and  he  wouldn't  agree  to  clean 


78  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

out  Jerry  until  I  promised  to  go  halves 
with  him.  This  wasn't  fair,  for  it  wasn't 
his  job,  and  a  quarter  would  have  been 
lots  for  him. 

"But  there  wasn't  no  use  arguin',  and 
along  we  went,  and  about  one  o'clock  we 
was  standin'  alongside  Jerry's  bed,  where 
he  was  fast  asleep.  He  was  a  bachelor, 
and  lived  pretty  much  by  himself.  I  give 
him  a  punch  to  waken  him  up,  for  we'd 
made  up  our  minds  that  that  was  the  way 
to  work  this  job.  It  wouldn't  pay  us  to 
go  around  huntin'  for  Jerry's  money.  He 
was  such  a  sharp  old  fellow,  it  was  six  to 
four  we'd  never  find  it.  He  sat  up  in  bed 
with  a  jump  like  a  hop-toad,  and  looked 
irst  at  one  and  then  at  the  other  of  us. 
We  both  had  masks  on,  and  it  wasn't  puz- 
zlin'  to  guess  what  we  was  there  fur. 

" '  Jerry  Hammond,'  says  I,  speakin' 
rather  rough  and  husky,  'we  knows  that 
you've  got  a  lot  o'  money  in  this  house, 
and  we've  come  fur  it.  We  mean  busi 
ness,  and  there's  no  use  foolin'.  You  can 
give  it  to  us  quiet  and  easy,  and  keep  a 
whole  head  on  your  shoulders,  or  we'll  lay 
you  out  ready  fur  a  wake  and  help  our 
selves  to  the  funds ;  and  now  you  pays 
your  money  and  you  can  take  your  choice 


THREE  BURGLARS.  79 

how  you  do  it.  There's  nothin'  shabby 
about  us,  but  we  mean  business.  Don't 
we,  pard?' —  'That's  so,'  says  Putty. 

"  4  Look  here,'  says  Jerry,  jest  as  cool  as 
if  he  had  been  sittin'  outside  on  his  own 
curbstone,  'I  know  you  two  men  and  no 
mistake.  You're  Tommy  Randall,  and 
you're  Putty  Henderson,  so  you  might  as 
well  take  off  them  masks.'  — 4  Which  I  am 
glad  to  do,'  says  I,  '  for  I  hate  'em,'  and  I 
put  mine  in  my  pocket,  and  Putty  he  took 
off  his." 

"  Excuse  me,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  inter 
rupting  at  this  point,  "  but  when  Mr.  Ham 
mond  mentioned  the  name  of  Tommy 
Randall,  to  whom  did  he  refer?" 

"  I  can  explain  that,  madam,"  said  the 
tall  burglar,  quickly.  "  This  man  by  his 
criminal  course  of  life  has  got  himself  into 
a  good  many  scrapes,  and  is  frequently 
obliged  to  change  his  name.  Since  I  acci 
dentally  became  acquainted  with  him  he 
has  had  several  aliases,  and  I  think  that 
he  very  often  forgets  that  his  real  name  is 
James  Barlow." 

"  That's  so,"  said  the  stout  man,  "  there 
never  was  a  more  correct  person  than  this 
industrious  and  unfortunate  man  sittin' 
by  me.  I  am  dreadful  forgetful,  and 


80  TJIE  STORIES   OF  THE 

sometimes  I  disremember  what  belongs  to 
me  and  what  don't.  Names  the  same  as 
other  things. 

"'Well,  now,  Jerry,'  says  I,  'you 
needn't  think  you're  goin'  to  make  any- 
thin'  by  knowin'  us.  You've  got  to  fork 
over  your  cash  all  the  same,  and  if  you 
think  to  make  anything  by  peachin'  on  us 
after  we've  cleared  out  and  left  you  peace 
ful  in  your  bed,  you're  mistook  so  far  as 
I'm  concerned ;  for  I've  made  the  track 
clear  to  get  out  of  this  town  before  day 
break,  and  I  don't  know  when  I'll  come 
back.  This  place  is  gettin'  a  little  too  hot 
for  me,  and  you're  my  concltidin'  exercise.' 
Jerry  he  sat  still  for  a  minute,  considerin'. 
He  wasn't  no  fool,  and  he  knowed  that 
there  wasn't  no  use  gettin'  scared,  nor 
cussin',  nor  hollerin'.  What's  more,  he 
knowed  that  we  was  there  to  get  his 
money,  and  if  he  didn't  fork  it  over  he'd 
get  himself  laid  out,  and  that  was  worse 
than  losin'  money  any  day.  '  Now,  boys, 
says  he,  'I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  I'll 
make  you  an  offer ;  a  fair  and  square  offer. 
What  money  I've  got  I'll  divide  even  with 
you.  each  of  us  takin'  a  third,  and  I'll  try 
to  make  up  what  I  lose  out  of  my  next 
contract.  Now  nothin'  could  be  no  squarer 


THREE   BURGLARS.  81 

than  that.'  — 4  How  much  money  have  you 
got,  Jerry  ? '  says  I,  '  that's  the  first  thing 
to  know.'  — 4  I've  got  thirty-one  hundred 
dollars  even,'  says  he,  'and  that  will  be 
one  thousand  and  thirty-three  dollars  and 
thirty- three  cents  apiece.  I've  got  bills  to 
pay  to-morrow  for  lumber  and  bricks,  and 
my  third  will  pay  'em.  If  I  don't  I'll  go 
to  pieces.  You  don't  want  to  see  me 
break  up  business,  do  you  ? '  -  — 4  Now, 
Jerry,'  says  I,  '  that  won't  do.  You 
haven't  got  enough  to  divide  into  three 
parts.  Putty  and  me  agree  to  go  halves 
with  what  we  get  out  of  you,  and  when  I 
lay  out  a  piece  of  business  I  don't  make  no 
changes.  Half  of  that  money  is  for  me,  and 
half  is  for  Putty.  So  just  hand  it  out,  and 
don't  let's  have  no  more  jabberinV 

"  Jerry  he  looked  at  me  pretty  hard,  and 
then  says  he :  '  You're  about  the  close- 
fisted  and  meanest  man  I  ever  met  with. 
Here  I  offer  you  a  third  part  of  my  money, 
and  all  you've  got  to  do  is  to  take  it  and 
go  away  peaceable.  I'd  be  willin'  to  bet 
two  to  one  that  it's  more  than  you  ex 
pected  to  get,  and  yet  you  are  not  satis 
fied  ;  now,  111  be  hanged  if  I'm  going  to 
do  business  with  you.'  — '  You  can  be 
hanged  if  you  like,'  says  I,  ;  but  you'll  do 


82  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

the  business  all  the  same.'  — 4  No,  I  won't,' 
says  he,  and  he  turns  to  Putty  Henderson. 
4  Now,  Putty,'  says  he,  '  you've  got  a  pile 
more  sense  that  this  pal  of  yourn,  and 
I'm  goin'  to  see  if  I  can't  do  business  with 
you.  Now,  you  and  me  together  can  lick 
this  Tommy  Randall  just  as  easy  as  not, 
and  if  you'll  help  me  do  it  I'll  not  only  di 
vide  the  money  with  you,  but  I'll  give  you 
fifty  dollars  extra,  so  that  instead  of  fif 
teen  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  —  that's  all 
he'd  given  you,  if  he  didn't  cheat  you  — 
you'll  have  sixteen  hundred,  and  I'll  have 
fifteen  hundred  instead  of  the  thousand 
and  thirty-three  dollars  which  I  would 
have  had  left  if  my  first  offer  had  been 
took.  So,  Putty,  what  do  you  say  to 
that  ?  '  Now,  Putty,  he  must  have  been  a 
little  sore  with  me  on  account  of  the  argu 
ments  we'd  had  about  dividin',  and  he  was 
mighty  glad  besides  to  get  the  chance  of 
makin'  fifty  dollars  extry,  and  so  he  said 
it  was  all  right,  and  he'd  agree.  Then  I 
thought  it  was  about  time  for  me  to  take 
in  some  of  my  sail,  and  says  I :  c  Jerry, 
that's  a  pretty  good  joke,  and  you  can  take 
my  hat  as  soon  as  I  get  a  new  one,  but  of 
course  I  don't  mean  to  be  hard  on  you, 
and  if  you  really  have  bills  to  pay  to-mor- 


THREE   BURGLARS.  83 

row  111  take  a  third,  and  Putty'll  take 
another,  and  we'll  go  away  peaceful.'  — 
4  No,  }rou  won't,'  sings  out  Jerry,  and  with 
that  he  jumps  out  of  bed  right  at  me,  and 
Putty  Henderson  he  comes  at  me  from  the 
other  side,  and,  between  the  two,  they 
gave  me  the  worst  lickin'  I  ever  got  in  my 
born  days,  and  then  they  dragged  me  down 
stairs  and  kicked  me  out  the  front  door, 
and  I  had  hardly  time  to  pick  myself  up 
before  I  saw  a  policeman  about  a  block  off, 
and  if  he  hadn't  been  a  fat  one  he'd  had 
me  sure.  It  wouldn't  have  been  pleasant, 
for  I  was  a  good  deal  wanted  about  that 
time. 

"  So  you  see,  ladies  and  gents,  that  it's 
true  what  I  said,  —  things  don't  always  go 
right  in  our  line  of  business  no  more  than 
any  other  one." 

"  I  think  you  were  served  exactly  right," 
said  Aunt  Martha ;  "  and  I  wonder  such  an 
experience  did  not  induce  you  to  reform.'* 

"  It  did,  ma'am,  it  did,"  said  the  burglar. 
"  I  made  a  vow  that  night  that  if  ever 
again  I  had  to  call  in  any  one  to  help  me 
in  business  of  that  kind  I  wouldn't  go 
pards  with  him.  I'd  pay  him  so  much  for 
the  job,  and  I'd  take  the  risks,  and  I've 
stuck  to  it. 


84  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"  But  even  that  don't  always  work. 
Luck  sometimes  goes  ag'in'  a  man,  even 
when  he's  working  by  himself.  I  remem 
ber  a  thing  of  that  kind  that  was  beastly 
hard  on  me.  A  gentleman  employed  me 
to  steal  his  daughter." 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  my  wife  and  Aunt 
Martha.  "  Steal  his  own  daughter  !  What 
do  you  mean  by  that?  " 

"  That's  what  it  was,"  said  the  stout 
burglar ;  "  no  more  nor  less.  I  was  recom 
mended  to  the  gent  as  a  reliable  party  for 
that  sort  of  thing,  and  I  met  him  to  talk  it 
over,  and  then  he  told  me  just  how  the 
case  stood.  He  and  his  wife  were  sepa 
rated,  and  the  daughter,  about  eleven  years 
old,  had  been  given  to  her  by  the  court, 
and  she  put  it  into  a  boar  din'  school,  and 
the  gent  he  was  goin'  to  Europe,  and  he 
wanted  to  get  the  little  gal  and  take  her 
with  him.  He  tried  to  get  her  once,  but  it 
slipped  up,  and  so  there  wasn't  no  good  in 
his  showin'  hisself  at  the  school  any  more, 
which  was  in  the  country,  and  he  knowed 
that  if  he  expected  to  get  the  gal  he'd  have 
to  hire  a  professional  to  attend  to  it. 

"Now,  when  I  heard  what  he  had  to 
say,  I  put  on  the  strictly  pious,  and,  says 
T,  '  that's  a  pretty  bad  thing  you're  askiii' 


THREE   BURGLARS.  85 

me  to  do,  sir,  to  carry  away  a  little  gal 
from  its  lovin'  mother,  and  more  'an  that, 
to  take  it  from  a  school  where  it's  gettin' 
all  the  benefits  of  eddication.'  — 4  Eddica- 
tion,'  says  he ;  4  that's  all  stuff.  What 
eddication  the  gal  gets  at  a  school  like 
that  isn't  worth  a  row  of  pins,  and  when 
they  go  away  they  don't  know  iiothin' 
useful,  nor  even  anything  tip-top  orna 
mental.  All  they've  learned  is  the  pianer 
and  higher  mathematics.  As  for  anythin' 
useful,  they're  nowhere.  There  isn't  one 
of  them  could  bound  New  Jersey  or  tell 
you  when  Washington  crossed  the  Dela 
ware.'  — 4  That  may  be,  sir,'  says  I,  i  but 
them  higher  branches  comes  useful.  If 
Washington  really  did  cross  the  Delaware, 
your  little  gal  could  ask  somebody  when 
it  was,  but  she  couldn't  ask  'em  how  the 
pianer  was  played,  nor  what  the  whole 
multiplication  table  came  to  added  up. 
Them  things  she'd  have  to  learn  how  to 
do  for  herself.  I  give  you  my  word,  sir, 
I  couldn't  take  a  little  gal  from  a  school, 
where  she  was  gettin'  a  number  one  eddi 
cation,  silver  forks  and  towels  extry.' 
The  gent  looked  pretty  glum,  for  he  was 
to  sail  the  next  day,  and  if  I  didn't  do 
the  job  for  him  he  didn't  know  who 


86  THE  STOEIES   OF  THE 

would,  and  he  said  that  he  was  sorry  to 
see  that  I  was  goin'  back  on  him  after  the 
recommend  I'd  had,  and  I  said  that  I 
wouldn't  go  back  on  him  if  it  wasn't  for 
my  conscience.  I  was  ready  to  do  any 
common  piece  of  business,  but  this  stealin' 
away  little  gals  from  lovin'  mothers  was 
a  leetle  too  much  for  me.  i  Well,'  says 
he,  4  there  ain't  no  time  to  be  lost,  and 
how  much  more  will  satisfy  your  con 
science  ? '  When  I  said  a  hundred  dollars, 
we  struck  the  bargain. 

"  Well,  we  cut  and  dried  that  business 
pretty  straight.  I  took  a  cab  and  went 
out  to  the  school,  and  the  gent  he  got  the 
key  of  a  house  that  was  to  let  about  three 
miles  from  the  school,  and  he  was  to  stay 
there  and  look  at  that  empty  house  until 
I  brought  him  the  gal,  when  he  was  to 
pay  me  and  take  her  away.  I'd  like  to 
have  had  more  time,  so  that  I  could  go 
out  and  see  how  the  land  laid,  but  there 
wasn't  no  more  time,  and  I  had  to  do  the 
best  I  could.  The  gent  told  me  they  all 
went  a  walkin'  every  afternoon,  and  that 
if  I  laid  low  that  would  be  the  best  time 
to  get  her,  and  I  must  just  fetch  her 
along,  no  matter  who  hollered. 

"  I  didn't  know  exactly  how  I  was  go- 


THREE   JH7RGLAHS.  87 

ing  to  manage  it,  but  I  took  along  with 
me  a  big  bag  that  was  made  for  the  con 
veyance  of  an  extinct  millionaire,  but 
which  had  never  been  used,  owin'  to  be 
forehand  arrangements  which  had  been 
made  with  the  party's  family. 

"  I  left  the  cab  behind  a  bit  of  woods, 
not  far  from  the  school,  and  then  I  laid 
low,  and  pretty  soon  I  seed  'em  all  coming 
out,  in  a  double  line,  with  the  teacher 
behind  'em,  for  a  walk.  I  had  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  little  gal  as  was  wanted,  and 
as  they  come  nearer  I  made  her  out  easy. 
She  was  the  only  real  light-haired  one  in 
the  lot.  I  hid  behind  some  bushes  in  the 
side  of  the  road,  and  when  they  come  up, 
and  the  light-haired  little  gal  was  just 
opposite  to  me,  I  jumped  out  of  the  bushes 
and  made  a  dash  at  her.  Whoop !  what 
a  row  there  was  in  one  second  !  Such  a 
screamin'  and  screechin'  of  gals,  such  a 
pihV  on  top  each  other,  and  the  teacher  I 
on  top  the  whole  of  'em,  bangin'  with  her 
umbrella ;  they  pulled  at  the  gal  and  they 
pulled  at  me,  an'  they  yelled  and  they 
howled,  and  I  never  was  in  such  a  row 
and  hope  I  never  shall  be  again,  and  I 
grabbed  that  girl  by  her  frock,  and  I 
tumbled  some  over  one  way  and  some 


88  THE   STORIES   OF  THE 

another,  and  I  got  the  umbrella  over  my 
head,  but  I  didn't  mind  it,  and  I  clapped 
that  bag  over  the  little  gal,  and  I  jerked 
up  her  feet  and  let  her  slip  into  it,  and 
then  I  took  her  up  like  a  bag  of  meal,  and 
put  across  the  field,  with  the  whole  kit 
and  boodle  after  me.  But  I  guess  most 
of  'em  must  have  tumbled  down  in  hyster 
ics,  judgin'  from  the  screechin',  and  I  got 
up  to  the  cab  and  away  we  went.  Well, 
when  we  got  to  the  house  where  I  was  to 
meet  the  gent,  he  began  straight  off  to 
blow  at  me.  'What  do  you  mean,'  he 
yelled,  4  bringin'  my  daughter  in  a  bag  ? ' 
-  4  It's  the  only  way  to  do  it,  sir,'  says  I ; 
4  they  can't  holler  and  they  can't  kick,  and 
people  passin'  by  don't  know  what  you've 
got,'  and  so  sayin'  I  untied  the  strings, 
put  the  little  gal  on  her  feet,  and  pulled 
off  the  bag,  and  then  I'd  be  hanged  if  I 
ever  saw  a  man  so  ragin'  mad  as  he  was. 
4  What  do  I  want  with  that  gal  ? '  he  cried ; 
4  that's  not  my  daughter.  That  girl's  hair 
is  as  black  as  a  coal,  and  she's  a  Jew  be 
sides.'  As  soon  as  I  sot  my  eyes  on  the 
little  varmint  it  come  over  me  that  I  got 
the  thing  crooked,  and  in  the  scrimmage  I 
let  go  of  the  right  gal  and  grabbed  an 
other. 


TIIIiEK    JiUltGLAKS.  89 

"  I  don't  see  how  a  man  could  help 
makin'  mistakes  with  that  school-teacher's 
umbrella  whanging  away  at  his  knowledge 
box,  but  I  wasn't  goin'  to  let  on.  '  She 
ain't  no  Jew,  nuther,'  says  I,  '  and  she's 
your  daughter,  too  ;  you  needn't  try  to 
play  no  tricks  on  me.  Pay  me  my  money 
and  take  her  away  as  quick  as  you  can, 
that's  my  advice,  or  before  you  know  it 
you'll  be  nabbed.'  — '  Pay  ye  ! '  he  yelled ; 
4  do  you  think  I'd  pay  you  anything  for 
that  little  Jew  ? '  -  - 4  She's  just  as  much  a 
Christian  as  you  are,'  says  I.  'Ain't  you 
a  Christian,  little  gal?  and  is'nt  this  gen 
tleman  your  father?  and  ain't  you  sur 
prised  that  he  wants  to  give  you  back  to 
be  put  in  the  bag?'  I  said  this  hopin' 
she'd  have  sense  enough  to  say  he  was  her 
father  so's  to  get  rid  of  me. 

"  The  wretched  gal  had  been  clean  dumb 
founded  when  she  was  took  out  of  the  bag, 
and  hadn't  done  nothin'  so  far  but  blubber 
and  cry,  and  try  to  get  away,  which  she 
couldn't,  because  I  held  her  frock ;  but 
now  she  ups  and  screams  he  wasn't  her 
father,  and  she'd  never  seen  him  before, 
and  then  he  storms  and  swrears,  and  tells 
me  to  take  her  back  where  I  got  her,  and 
I  tell  him  I'll  see  him  hanged  first,  and 


90  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

what  I  want  is  my  money ;  she  screams, 
and  he  swears  he'll  not  pay  me  a  cent,  and 
I  squares  off  and  says  that  I'll  thrash  him 
out  of  his  skin,  and  then  he  calls  in  his 
coachman,  and  they  both  make  at  me,  and 
I  backs  out  the  door  to  get  my  cabby  to 
stand  by  me,  and  I  found  that  he'd  cut 
out,  havin'  most  likely  got  frightened, 
afraid  of  bein'  mixed  up  in  trouble. 
Then  I  seed  on  the  high  road,  some  half 
a  mile  away,  some  men  comin'  gallopin', 
and  the  gent  he  looked  out  and  seed  'em, 
too,  and  then  says  he  to  me,  'You'll  jist 
take  that  little  Jew  gal  back  where  you 
got  her  from;  she's  no  use  to  me;  I'm 
goin' ; '  and  at  that  I  hollered  for  my 
money,  and  made  a  grab  at  him,  but  the 
coachman  he  tripped  me  over  backward, 
and  before  I  could  git  up  again  they  was 
both  off  with  the  horses  on  a  run. 

"I  was  so  mad  I  couldn't  speak,  but 
there  wasn't  no  time  for  foolin',  and  I 
hadn't  made  up  my  mind  which  door  I 
should  cut  out  of,  when  the  fellows  on 
horseback  went  ridin'  past  as  hard  as  they 
could  go.  They  must  have  seed  the  car 
riage  drivin'  away,  and  thought  for  sure  it 
had  the  gal  in  it,  and  they  was  after  it, 
lickety-split. 


THREE   BURGLARS.  91 

"  When  they  was  clean  gone  I  looked 
round  for  the  little  gal,  but  couldn't  see 
her,  but  all  a-sudden  she  came  out  of  the 
fireplace,  where  she'd  been  hidin'.  She'd 
got  over  her  cryin',  and  over  her  scare, 
too,  judgin'  from  her  looks.  '  Tin  glad 
he's  gone,'  says  she,  4  and  I'm  mighty 
glad,  too,  that  Mr.  Haskins  and  them 
other  men  didn't  see  me.'  — '  Who's  they  ? ' 
says  I.  —  '  They's  neighbors,'  says  she  ;  '  if 
they  knew  I  was  here  they'd  took  me 
back.'  —  4  Well,  you  little  minx,'  say  I, 
4  isn't  that  what  you  want  ? '  —  4  No,'  says 
she.  '  I  didn't  want  to  go  with  that  man, 
for  I  don't  know  him,  and  I  hate  him,  but 
I  don't  want  to  go  back  to  that  school.  I 
hate  it  worse  than  anything  in  the  whole 
world.  You  haven't  no  idea  what  a  horrid 
place  it  is.  They  just  work  you  to  death, 
and  don't  give  you  half  enough  to  eat. 
My  constitution  won't  stand  it.  I've  told 
Pop  that,  and  he  thinks  so  too,  but  Marm, 
she  don't  believe  in  it,  and  my  stayin* 
there  is  all  her  doin'.  I've  been  wantin' 
to  get  away  for  ever  so  long,  but  I  didn't 
want  to  be  took  off  in  a  bag ;  but  now  that 
I'm  out  of  that  horrid  hole  I  don't  want 
to  go  back,  and  if  you'll  take  me  home ,  to 
Pop,  I  know  he  won't  let  me  go  back,  and 


92  THE  STORIES    OF  THE 

he'll  pay  you  real  handsome  besides.'  — 
'Who's  your  Pop?"  says  I.  —  'lie's  Mr. 
Groppeltacker,  of  Groppeltacker  &  Mintz, 
corset  findings,  seven  hundred  and  some 
thing  or  other,  I  forget  the  number  now, 
Broadway.  Oh,  Pop  does  a  lot  of  business, 
I  tell  you,  and  he's  got  lots  of  money. 
He  sends  corset  findings  to  South  America, 
and  Paris,  and  Chicago,  and  Madagascar, 
and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  I've 
heard  him  say  that  often,  and  you  needn't 
be  afraid  of  his  not  beiii'  able  to  pay  you. 
A  lot  more  than  that  man  would  have 
paid  you  for  his  little  gal,  if  you'd  catched 
the  right  one.  So  if  you  take  me  to  Pop, 
and  get  me  there  safe  and  sound,  it  will 
be  an  awful  good  speck  for  you.' 

"  Now,  I  begins  to  think  to  myself  that 
perhaps  there  was  somethin'  in  what  that 
little  Jew  gal  was  sayin',  and  that  I  might 
make  something  out  of  the  gal  after  all. 
I  didn't  count  on  gettin'  a  big  pile  out  of 
old  Groppeltacker,  —  it  wasn't  likely  he 
was  that  kind  of  a  man,  —  but  whatever 
I  did  get  would  be  clean  profit,  and  I 
might  as  well  try  it  on.  He  couldn't 
make  no  charge  ag'in  me  fur  bringm'  him 
his  daughter,  if  she  asked  rne  to  do  it ;  so 
says  I  to  her,  '  Now,  if  I  take  you  home 


THREE   VURGLARfi.  93 

to  your  Pop,  will  you  promise  on  your 
word  an'  honour,  that  you  won't  say  nothin' 
about  my  carryin'  you  off  in  a  bag,  and 
say  that  you  seed  me  walkiu'  along  the 
road  and  liked  my  looks,  and  told  me  you 
were  sufferin',  and  asked  me  to  take 
you  home  to  your  kind  parents,  where  you 
might  be  took  proper  care  of ;  and  that  I 
said  I  wasn't  goin'  that  way,  but  I'd  do  it 
out  of  pure  Christian  charity,  and  nothin' 
more  nor  less,  and  here  you  was  ?  And 
then,  of  course,  you  can  tell  him  he  ought 
to  do  the  handsome  thing  by  me.'  —  4  I'll 
do  that,'  says  she,  4  and  I  tell  how  you 
talked  to  me  awful  kind  for  more  than 
an  hour,  tryin'  to  keep  me  to  stay  at  the 
school,  and  it  wasn't  till  I  got  down  on  my 
knees  and  weeped  that  you  agreed  to  take 
me  to  my  kind  father.'  —  '  All  right,'  says 
I,  '  I  might  as  well  take  you  along,  but 
we'll  have  to  go  back  by  the  railroad  and 
foot  it,  at  least  two  miles,  to  the  station, 
and  I  don't  know  about  walkin'  across  the 
country  with  a  little  girl  dressed  as  fine  as 
you  are.  I  might  get  myself  suspicioned.' 
— i  That's  so,'  says  she  ;  '  we  might  meet 
somebody  that'd  know  me,'  and  then  she 
wriggled  up  her  little  forehead  and  began 
to  think.  I  never  did  see  such  a  little  gal 


94  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

as  sharp  as  that  one  was  ;  needles  was 
nothin'  to  her.  In  about  a  minute  she  says, 
'  Where's  that  bag  of  yourn  ? '  —  '  Here 
it  is,'  says  I ;  and  then  she  took  it  and 
looked  at  it  up  and  down,  with  her  head 
cocked  on  one  side.  'IfTd  somethiii'  to 
cut  that  bag  with,'  says  she,  '  I  could  fix 
myself  up  so  that  nobody'd  know  me, 
don't  care  who  it  was.'  — ' 1  don't  want 
that  bag  cut,'  says  I ;  '  it's  an  extry  good 
bag  ;  it  was  made  for  a  particular  purpose, 
and  cost  money.'  —  'Pop  will  pay  expenses,' 
says  she;  'how  much  did  it  cost?'  —  'It 
was  four  dollars  cash,'  said  I.  —  •  They 
cheated  you  like  everything,'  says  she  ; 
4  you  could  get  a  bag  like  that  any  day  for 
a  dollar  and  seventy-five  cents.  Will  you 
let  it  go  at  that  ? '  — '  All  right,'  says  I,  for 
I  was  tickled  to  see  how  sharp  that  little 
Jew  gal  was,  and  ten  to  one  I'd  thro  wed 
iway  the  bag  before  we  got  to  town ;  so 
jhe  pulled  a  little  book  out  of  her  pocket 
with  a  pencil  stuck  in  it,  and  turnin'  over 
to  a  blank  page  she  put  down,  '  Bag,  one 
dollar  and  seventy-five  ; '  then  she  borrows 
my  big  knife,  and  holdin'  the  top  of  the 
bag  up  ag'in  her  belt,  she  made  me  stick  a 
pin  in  it  about  a  hand's-breadth  from  the 
floor  ;  then  she  took  the  knife  and  cut  the 


THREE  BURGLARS.  95 

bag  clean  across,  me  a-holdin'  one  side  of 
it ;  then  she  took  the  top  end  of  that  bag 
and  slipped  it  on  her,  over  her  head  and 
shoulders,  and  tied  the  drawin'  strings  in 
it  round  her  waist,  and  it  hung  around 
her  just  like  a  skirt,  nearly  touchin'  the 
ground ;  then  she  split  open  the  rest  of 
the  bag,  and  made  a  kind  of  shawl  out  of 
it,  puttin'  it  into  shape  with  a  lot  o'  pins, 
and  pinnin'  it  on  herself  real  clever.  She 
had  lots  of  pins  in  her  belt,  and  she  told  me 
that  she  never  passed  a  pin  in  that  school 
without  pickin'  it  up,  and  that  she  had 
four  hundred  and  fifty-nine  of  them  now 
in  her  room,  which  she  was  mighty  sorry 
to  leave  behind,  and  that  these  she  had 
now  was  this  day's  pickin'  up. 

"  When  she  got  done  workin'  at  herself 
you  couldn't  see  not  a  ribbon  nor  a  hem  of 
>er  fine  clothes  ;  it  was  all  black  skirt  and 
tshawl,  and  she'd  put  up  her  sleeve,  so  that 
whe-n  her  arm  stuck  out  it  was  bare.  Then 
she  took  all  the  ribbons  and  flowers  off  her 
hat,  and  crumpled  it  up,  and  when  she 
tied  it  on  what  a  guy  she  was.  '  Now,' 
says  she,  '  I  can  go  barefoot.'  — '  Which 
you  won't,'  says  I,  '  for  you'll  get  your  feet 
all  cut,  but  you  can  muddy  your  shoes,' 
which  she  did,  I  pumpin'  on  'em,  so  that 


96  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

the  dust  in  the  back  yard  would  stick. 
Then  we  starts  off  across  the  country,  and, 
upon  my  word,  I  was  pretty  nigh  ashamed 
to  be  seen  walkin'  with  such  a  little  scare 
crow.  When  I  bought  the  tickets  at  the 
station  she  asked  me  how  much  they  was, 
and  put  it  down  in  her  book.  When  we 
got  into  the  cars  the  people  all  looked  hard 
at  her,  and  I  reckon  they  thought  some 
kind  of  a  home  had  been  burnt  down,  and 
this  was  one  of  the  orphans  that  had  been 
saved.  But  they  didn't  say  nothin',  and  she 
fixed  herself  as  comfortable  as  you  please ; 
and  before  long  a  boy  came  through 
the  car  with  fruit  in  a  basket,  and  then 
says  she  to  me,  4 1  want  two  apples.'  The 
boy  had  gone  past  us,  but  I  got  up  and 
followed  him  and  bought  her  two  apples. 
4  How  much  did  you  give  for  them  ? '  says 
she,  when  I  come  back.  — 4  They  was  two 
for  five  cents,'  says  I.  — '  Well,'  says  she, 
'they  do  stick  you  dreadful.  Two  for 
three  cents  is  all  papa  or  I  pays  for  apples 
like  them,'  and  she  took  out  her  little  book 
and  put  down,  4  Apples,  three  cents.'  — 
4  Very  well,  miss,'  says  I,  4  but  if  you  want 
any  more  refreshments  you  buy  'em  your 
self.'  —  '  I  think  I'd  better,'  says  she,  and 
she  went  to  work  eatln'  them  two  apples. 


THREE  BURGLARS.  97 

She  hadn't  more  than  got  through  with 
'em  when  the  boy  came  around  ag'in. 
'I  want  a  banana,'  says  she ;  'lend  me  five 
cents,'  which  I  did,  and  she  put  down,  'Cash, 
five  cents.'  Then  the  boy  come  up,  and 
says  she,  '  How  much  are  your  bananas?' 
— '  Five  cents,'  said  he.  — '  For  two  ? '  says 
she. — '  No,'  says  he,  4  for  one.' — '  What  do 
you  take  me  for  ?  '  says  she.  '  I've  bought 
bananas  before.  I'll  give  you  three  cents 
for  that  one,'  pointin'  to  the  biggest  in  the 
lot.  — '  I  can't  do  that,'  said  the  boy  ,  '  the 
price  is  five  cents.'  — '  I'd  like  a  banana,' 
says  she,  'but  I  don't  pay  more'n  three 
cents ;  take  it  or  leave  it,'  and  with  that 
the  boy  went  on.  '  Now,'  says  I,  '  you've 
gouged  yourself  out  of  a  banana.'  — '  Not  a 
bit  of  it,'  says  she  ;  i  he'll  be  back ; '  and  in 
two  minutes  he  was  back,  and  said  she 
might  have  it  for  three  cents.  '  Have  you 
got  two  coppers  ?  '  said  she.  '  Let  me  see 
'em.'  He  said  he  had,  and  showed  'em  to 
her,  and  she  took  'em  and  the  banana,  and 
then  give  him  five  cents,  and  then  she 
didn't  give  the  change  to  me,  but  put  it  in 
her  pocket.  'Now,'  says  she,  'if  you'd 
buy  things  that  way,  you'd  be  rich  in 
time.' 

"  When  we  got  to  the  city  we  took  the 


98  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

elevated  and  went  up  town  to  Forty-eighth 
street,  and  then  walked  over  to  her  father's 
house.  It  was  a  big  one,  on  one  of  the 
cross  streets.  When  we  got  there,  she 
told  me  to  wait  a  minute,  and,  lookin' 
around  to  see  that  nobody  was  comin',  she 
slipped  off  the  skirt  and  the  cape  she  had 
made  and  rolled  'em  up  in  a  bundle.  '  It 
don't  matter  about  my  hat  and  shoes,'  says 
she,  '  but  they  wouldn't  know  me  in  such 
duds.'  Then,  handin'  me  the  bundle,  she 
said,  '  For  twenty-five  cents  you  can  get 
fhat  bag  mended  just  as  good  as  new,  so 
you  can  take  it,  and  it  will  save  us  a  dollar 
and  a  half.'  —  '  No,  you  don't,'  says  I,  for 
I'd  had  enough  of  her  stinginess.  '  I  don't 
touch  that  bag  ag'in,  and  I  made  up  my 
mind  that  minute  to  charge  the  old  man 
jve  dollars'  worth.  When  the  front  door 
was  opened,  the  servant  gal  looked  as  if  she 
couldn't  believe  her  eyes,  but  my  young 
woman  was  as  cool  as  you  please,  and  shf 
had  me  showed  into  a  room  off  the  hall, 
and  then  she  went  up-stairs. 

"  I  sat  a-waitin'  a  long  time,  which  gave 
me  a  good  chance  to  look  around  at  things. 
The  room  was  real  handsome,  and  I  took  a 
peep  at  the  window  fastenin's  and  the  lay 
of  the  doors,  thinkin'  the  knowledge  might 


THREE   BURGLARS.  99 

come  in  handy  some  time.  Right  in  front 
of  me  on  a  table  was  a  little  yellow  mouse, 
and  it  struck  me  as  I  looked  at  it  that  that 
must  be  gold.  I  listened  if  anybody  was 
comin',  and  then  I  picked  it  up  to  see  if  it 
really  was.  I  thought  I  heard  the  door 
bell  ring  just  then,  and  shut  it  up  in  my 
hand  quick,  but  nobody  went  to  the  door ; 
and  then  I  looked  at  the  little  mouse,  and 
if  it  wasn't  pure  gold  it  was  the  best  imi 
tation  ever  I  see,  so  I  slipped  it  quietly  in 
my  pocket  to  look  at  it  ag'in  when  I  had 
time. 

"Pretty  soon  old  Groppeltacker  corne 
in,  shut  the  door,  and  sot  down.  -  4  So  you 
brought  my  daughter  back,'  says  he.  — '  Yes,' 
says  I.  — '  And  you  expect  to  be  paid  for 
it,'  says  he.  — '  Yes,'  says  I,  '  I  do.'  — '  How 
much  do  you  ask  for  your  services  ?  '  says 
he.  Now,  this  was  a  sort  of  a  staggerer, 
for  I  hadn't  made  up  my  mind  how  much 
I  was  goin'  to  ask ;  but  there  wasn't  time 
for  no  more  thinkin'  about  it,  and  so  says 
I,  plum,  '  A  hundred  dollars,  and  there  was 
some  expenses  besides.'  —  'Well,  well,'  says 
he,  'that  seems  like  a  good  deal,  just  for 
bringin'  a  little  gal  from  school.  It  couldn't 
have  took  you  more'n  a  couple  of  hours.' 
— '  I  don't  charge  for  time,'  says  I, '  it's  for 


100  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

the  risks  and  the  science  of  the  thing. 
There's  mighty  few  men  in  this  town  could 
have  brought  your  daughter  home  as  neat 
as  I  did.'  —  4  Well,  well,'  says  he,  rubbin' 
his  hands,  4 1  expect  I'll  have  to  pay  for 
the  whole  term  of  the  school,  whether  she's 
there  or  not,  and  the  business  will  come 
heavy  on  me.  Don't  you  think  sixty  dol 
lars  would  pay  you  ? '  Now,  I  know  when 
you  deal  with  this  sort  of  a  man  there's 
always  a  good  deal  of  difference  splittin' ; 
and  so,  says  I, '  No,  it  won't.  I  might  take 
ninety  dollars,  but  that's  the  very  lowest 
peg.'  — '  The  very  lowest  ?  '  says  he,  gettin' 
up  and  walkin'  about  a  little  ;  and  then  I 
thought  I  heard  the  door-bell  ring  again, 
and  I  was  dreadful  afraid  somebody  would 
come  and  call  off  the  old  man  before  lie 
finished  the  bargain.  '  Well,'  says  I, '  we'll 
call  it  eighty-five  and  expenses,  and  there 
I'll  stop.' 

"  Groppeltacker,  now  he  sot  down  ag'in 
and  looked  hard  at  me.  '  I  didn't  ask  you 
to  bring  my  daughter  back,'  says  he,  speak- 
in'  gruff,  and  very  different  from  the  way 
he  spoke  before, '  and  what's  more,  I  didn't 
want  her  back,  and  what's  more  yet,  I'm 
not  goin'  to  pay  you  a  red  cent.'  —  ;  Now, 
look  a-here,'  says  I,  mighty  sharp,  c  none 


THREE   BURGLARS.  101 

o'  that,  old  man ;  fork  over  the  money  or 
I'll  lay  you  out  stiff  as  a  poker,  and  help 
myself.  I'm  not  a  fellow  to  be  fooled  with, 
and  there's  nobody  in  this  house  can  stop 
me.'  Old  Groppeltacker,  he  didn't  turn 
a  hair,  but  just  sot  there,  and  says  he, 
4  Before  you  blow  any  more,  suppose  you 
take  my  little  gold  mouse  out  of  your 
pocket  and  hand  it  to  me.'  I  must  say  I 
was  took  back  at  this,  but  I  spoke  back,  as 
bold  as  brass,  and  said  I  never  seed  his 
gold  mouse.  '  O,  ho  ! '  says  he,  '  what  you 
didn't  see  was  the  electric  button  under 
the  table  cover  which  rung  a  bell  when  the 
mouse  was  picked  up.  That's  what  I  call 
my  mouse-trap.' 

"  At  this  I  jist  b'iled  over.  4  Now,'  says 
I,  '  just  you  hand  out  every  cent  you've 
got,  and  your  watch,  too;  not  another 
word.'  And  I  jumped  up  and  clapped  my 
hand  on  my  pistol  in  my  hip-pocket,  and 
just  at  that  minute  there  was  a  click  and 
the  nippers  were  on  me,  and  there  was  a 
big  policeman  with  his  hand  on  my  shoul 
der.  I  couldn't  speak,  I  was  so  b'ilin'  and  so 
dumbfounded  both  at  once.  Old  Groppel 
tacker  he  just  leaned  back  and  he  laughed. 
'  You  came  in,'  he  said  to  the  .coj), 4  jest  the 
second  I  rang,  and  as  soft  as  a  G^t,  Vnd  the 


102  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

first  tiling  that  I  want  you  to  do  is  to  take 
that  gold  mouse  out  of  his  pocket,  and  I'll 
be  on  hand  whenever  you  let  me  know  I'm 
wanted.'  The  cop  he  took  the  gold  mouse 
out  of  my  pocket,  and  says  he,  '  I  know 
this  fellow,  and  if  I'm  not  mistook,  they'll 
be  more  charges  than  yourn  made  ag'in 
him.'  There  wasn't  no  chance  to  show 
fight,  so  I  didn't  do  it,  but  I  says  to  old 
Groppeltacker,  '  There's  my  expenses, 
you've  got  to  pay  them,  anyway.'  — 4  All 
right,'  says  he,  c  jist  you  send  in  your  bill 
marked  correct,  by  my  daughter,  and  111 
settle  it,'  and  he  laughed  again,  and  the 
cop  he  took  me  off.  Well,  ladies  and  gents, 
that  little  piece  of  business,  together  with 
some  other  old  scores,  took  me  to  Sing  Sing 
for  three  years,  and  it  tain't  six  months 
since  I  got  out,  so  you  can  see  for  your 
selves  what  hard  times  a  fellow  in  my  line 
of  business  sometimes  has." 

"  Well,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  "  I  don't  ap 
prove  of  the  Groppeltacker  sort  of  people, 
but  if  there  were  more  of  that  kind  I  be 
lieve  there  would  be  fewer  of  your  kind. 
That  story  shows  you  in  such  a  bad  light 
that  I  believe  it's  true." 

"Every  word  of  it,"  said  the  man.     "I 


THREE   BUliGLARS.  103 

And  now  I  spoke.  "  Since  you  claim  to 
be  a  truth-telling  being,"  I  said  to  the  stout 
burglar,  "suppose  you  tell  me  why  you 
never  attempted  before  to  break  into  my 
house.  Every  considerable  dwelling  in 
this  neighbourhood  has  been  entered,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  you  are  the  men  who 
committed  all  the  burglaries." 

"  No,  sir,"  said  he  ;  "  not  men,  I  am  the 
man  who  did  'em  all ;  but  these  two  friends 
of  mine  was  never  with  me  before  in  a  bit 
of  business  like  this.  Tain't  in  their  line. 
I  have  had  pals  with  me,  but  they  was 
professionals.  These  ain't  cracksmen, 
they  don't  know  nothin'  about  it ;  but  this 
one  is  handy  at  tools,  and  that's  the  reason 
I  brung  him  along,  but  you  see  he  kicked, 
and  was  goin'  to  give  me  away,  and  this 
young  gentleman  " — 

"  Never  mind  about  that  young  gentle 
man,"  I  said  ;  "  I  have  a  certain  curiosity 
to  know  why  my  house  was  not  entered 
when  the  others  were." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  don't  mind  tellin* 
yer  how  that  was.  It  was  on  account  of 
your  baby.  We  don't  like  to  crack  a  house 
where  there's  a  pretty  small  baby  that's 
liable  to  wake  up  and  howl  any  minute, 
and  rouse  up  the  rest  of  the  family. 


104  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

There's  no  workin'  in  a  house  with  com 
fort  when  there's  such  a  young  one  about. 
I'll  tell  you  what  it  is,  all  your  burglar- 
alarms  and  your  dogs  ain't  worth  nuthin' 
alongside  of  a  baby  for  guardin'  a  house. 
If  a  cracksman  ain't  careful  the  alarms 
will  go  off,  and  if  he  don't  know  how  to 
manage  dogs,  the  dogs  will  bark.  But  by 
George,  sir,  there  ain't  no  providin'  ag'in  a 
baby.  He'll  howl  any  time,  and  nobody 
can  tell  when,  so  I  waited  till  your  baby 
was  a  little  more  settled  in  its  ways  and 
slept  soundly,  and  then  we  come  along, 
and  here  we  are." 

This  statement  very  much  surprised  me, 
and  did  not  elate  me.  Without  saying  so 
to  any  one,  I  had  flattered  myself  that  the 
burglars  had  heard  of  my  precautions,  and 
of  my  excellent  stock  of  firearms,  and  per 
haps  had  got  a  notion  that  I  would  be  an 
intrepid  man  to  deal  with,  and  it  was  some 
what  humiliating  to  find  that  it  was  our 
baby  the  burglars  were  afraid  of,  and  not 
myself.  My  wife  was  amazed. 

"  Can  it  be  possible,"  she  said,  "  that 
these  people  know  so  much  about  our 
baby,  and  that  George  William  has  been 
protecting  this  house  ?  " 

"It  makes  my  flesh  creep,"  said  Aunt 


THREE  BURGLARS.  105 

Martha.  "  Do  you  knoAV  everything  about 
all  of  us?" 

"  Wish  I  did,  ma'am,"  said  the  stout 
burglar ;  "  wish  I'd  known  about  that 
beastly  liquor." 

"  Well,  we've  had  enough  of  this,"  said 
I,  rising ;  "  and,  my  dear,  you  and  Aunt 
Martha  must  be  ready  to  go  to  bed,  and 
David  and  I  will  keep  guard  over  these 
fellows  until  morning." 

At  this  instant  the  youngest  burglar 
spoke.  His  face  wore  a  very  anxious  ex 
pression. 

"  May  I  ask,  sir,"  he  said,  "  what  you  in 
tend  to  do  with  me  in  the  morning  ?  " 

"  I  have  already  said,"  I  answered,  "  that 
I  shall  then  hand  over  all  of  you  to  the 
officers  of  justice  of  this  country." 

"But,  sir,"  said  the  young  man,  "you 
will  surely  except  me.  I  am  not  at  all 
concerned  in  this  matter,  and  it  would  be 
of  the  greatest  possible  injury  to  me  to  be 
mixed  up  in  it,  or  to  be  mentioned  in  public 
reports  as  an  associate  of  a  criminal.  I'm 
not  acquainted  with  the  gentleman  at  the 
other  end  of  the  bench,  but  I  have  every 
reason  to  believe  from  what  he  said  to  me 
that  he  intended  to  notify  you  if  this 
James  Barlow  proceeded  to  any  open  act. 


106  THE  STORIES  OF  THE 

For  myself,  I  beg  you  will  allow  me  to 
state  who  and  what  I  am,  and  to  tell  you 
by  what  a  strange  concatenation  of  circum 
stances  I  happen  to  find  myself  in  my 
present  position  —  one  which,  I  assure  you, 
causes  me  the  greatest  embarrassment  and 
anxiety." 

"  We've  had  enough  story-telling  for 
one  night,"  said  I,  "  and  you  had  better 
reserve  your  statement  for  the  magistrate." 

Here  Aunt  Martha  put  in  her  voice. 

"  That  is  not  fair,"  she  said,  "  two  of 
them  have  been  allowed  to  speak,  and  this 
one  has  just  as  much  right  to  be  heard  as 
the  others.  What  do  you  say,  Cornelia?  " 

I  hoped  that  my  wife  would  put  herself 
on  my  side,  and  would  say  that  we  had 
enough  of  this  sort  of  thing ;  but  female 
curiosity  is  an  unknown  quantity,  and  she 
unhesitatingly  replied  that  she  would  like 
to  hear  the  young  man's  story.  I  sat 
down  in  despair.  It  was  useless  to  en 
deavour  to  withstand  this  yearning  for  per 
sonal  information,  —  one  of  the  curses,  I 
may  say,  of  our  present  civilization.  The 
young  man  gave  no  time  for  change  of 
opinion,  but  immediately  began.  His  voice 
was  rich  and  rather  low,  and  his  manner 
exceedingly  pleasing  and  gentle. 


THREE   BURGLARS.  107 

u  I  wish  to  state  in  the  first  place,"  said 
he,  "  that  I  am  a  reporter  for  the  press. 
In  the  exercise  of  my  vocation  I  have  fre 
quently  found  myself  in  peculiar  and  un 
pleasant  positions,  but  never  before  have  I 
been  in  a  situation  so  embarrassing,  so  hu 
miliating,  as  this.  In  the  course  of  my 
studies  and  experiences  I  have  found  that 
in  literature  and  journalism,  as  well  as  in 
art,  one  can  make  a  true  picture  only  of 
what  one  has  seen.  Imagination  is  all 
very  well,  often  grand  and  beautiful ;  but 
imaginative  authors  show  us  their  inner 
selves  and  not  our  outer  world  ;  there  is 
to-day  a  demand  for  the  real,  and  it  is  a 
demand  which  will  be  satisfied  with  noth 
ing  but  the  truth.  I  have  determined,  as 
far  as  in  me  lies,  to  endeavour  to  supply 
this  demand,  and  I  have  devoted  myself 
to  the  study  of  Realism. 

"  With  this  end  in  view,  I  have  made  it 
a  rule  never  to  describe  anything  I  have 
not  personally  seen  and  examined.  If  we 
would  thoroughly  understand  and  appreci 
ate  our  fellow-beings  we  must  know  what 
they  do  and  how  they  do  it  ;  otherwise  we 
cannot  give  them  credit  for  their  virtues* 
•r  judge  them  properly  for  their  faults. 
If  I  could  prevent  crime  I  would  aimihi- 


108  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

late  it,  and  when  it  ceased  to  exist  the  ne 
cessity  for  describing  it  would  also  cease. 
But  it  does  exist.  It  is  a  powerful  ele 
ment  in  the  life  of  the  human  race.  Be 
ing  known  and  acknowledged  everywhere, 
it  should  be  understood  ;  therefore  it 
should  be  described.  The  grand  reality 
of  which  we  are  a  part  can  never  be  truly 
comprehended  until  we  comprehend  all  its 
parts.  But  I  will  not  philosophize.  I 
have  devoted  myself  to  Realism,  and  in  or 
der  to  be  a  conscientious  student  I  study 
it  in  all  its  branches.  I  am  frequently 
called  upon  to  write  accounts  of  burglars 
and  burglaries,  and  in  order  thoroughly  to 
understand  these  people  and  their  method 
of  action  I  determined,  as  soon  as  the  op 
portunity  should  offer  itself,  to  accompany 
a  burglarious  expedition.  My  sole  object 
was  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  —  knowledge  which  to  me  would 
be  valuable,  and,  I  may  say,  essential.  I 
engaged  this  man,  James  Barlow,  to  take 
me  with  him  the  first  time  he  should  have 
on  hand  an  affair  of  this  kind,  and  thus  it 
is  that  you  find  me  here  to-night  in  this 
company.  As  I  came  here  for  the  pur 
pose  of  earnest  and  thorough  investiga 
tion,  I  will  frankly  admit  that  I  would 


THREE    nURGLARS.  109 

not  have  interfered  with  his  processes, 
but  at  the  same  time  I  would  have  seen 
that  no  material  injuries  should  result  to 
any  members  of  this  family." 

"  That  was  very  kind  of  you,"  I  said,  at 
which  my  wife  looked  at  me  somewhat  re- 
proachingly. 

"  If  he  really  intended  it,"  she  remarked, 
"  and  I  do  not  see  why  that  was  not  the 
case,  it  was  kind  in  him." 

"  As  for  me,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  very 
sympathetically,  "  I  think  that  the  study 
of  Realism  may  be  carried  a  great  deal 
too  far.  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  the 
slightest  necessity  for  people  to  know  any 
thing  about  burglars.  If  people  keep  talk 
ing  and  reading  about  diseases  they  will 
get  them,  and  if  they  keep  talking  and 
reading  about  crimes  they  will  find  that 
iniquity  is  catching,  the  same  as  some 
other  things.  Besides,  this  realistic  de 
scription  gets  to  be  very  tiresome.  If  you 
really  want  to  be  a  writer,  young  man,  why 
don't  you  try  your  hand  on  some  original 
composition  ?  Then  you  might  write 
something  which  would  be  interesting." 

"  Ah,  madam,"  said  the  young  man,  cast 
ing  his  eyes  on  the  floor,  "  it  would  be  far 
beyond  my  power  to  write  anything  more 


110  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

wonderful  than  what  I  have  known  and 
seen !  If  I  may  tell  you  some  of  the 
things  which  have  happened  to  me,  you 
will  understand  why  I  have  become  con 
vinced  that  in  this  world  of  realities  im 
agination  must  always  take  a  second 
place." 

"  Of  course  we  want  to  hear  your 
story,"  said  Aunt  Martha ;  "  that  is  what 
we  are  here  for." 

"If  I  was  unbound,"  said  the  young 
man,  looking  at  me,  "  I  could  speak  more 
freely." 

"  No  doubt  of  it,"  said  I ;  "  but  perhaps 
you  might  run  away  before  you  finished 
your  story.  I  wouldn't  have  that  happen 
for  the  world." 

"Don't  make  fun  of  him,"  said  Aunt 
Martha.  "  I  was  going  to  ask  you  to  cut 
him  loose,  but  after  what  you  say  I  think 
it  would  perhaps  be  just  as  well  to  keep 
them  all  tied  until  the  narratives  are  com 
pleted." 

With  a  sigh  of  resignation  the  young 
man  began  his  story. 

"  I  am  American  born,  but  my  father, 
who  was  a  civil  engineer  and  of  high  rank 
in  his  profession,  was  obliged,  when  I  was 
quite  a  small  boy,  to  go  to  Austria,  where 


THREE   BURGLARS.  Ill 

he  had  made  extensive  contracts  for  the 
building  of  railroads.  In  that  country  I 
spent  the  greater  part  of  my  boyhood  and 
youth.  There  I  was  educated  in  the  best 
schools,  my  father  sparing  no  money  to 
have  me  taught  everything  that  a  gentle 
man  should  know.  My  mother  died  when 
I  was  a  mere  infant,  and  as  my  father's 
vocation  made  it  necessary  for  him  to 
travel  a  great  deal,  my  life  was  often  a 
lonely  one.  For  society  I  depended  en 
tirely  upon  my  fellow-scholars,  my  tutors, 
and  masters.  It  was  my  father's  inten 
tion,  however,  that  when  I  had  finished 
my  studies  I  should  go  to  one  of  the  great 
capitals,  there  to  mix  with  the  world. 

"But  when  this  period  arrived  I  was 
in  no  haste  to  avail  myself  of  the  advan 
tages  he  offered  me.  My  tastes  were 
studious,  my  disposition  contemplative, 
and  I  was  a  lover  of  rural  life. 

"  My  father  had  leased  an  old  castle  in 
Caririthia,  not  far  from  the  mountains, 
and  here  he  kept  his  books  and  charts, 
and  here  he  came  for  recreation  and  study 
whenever  his  arduous  duties  gave  him  a 
little  breathing-spell.  For  several  months 
I  had  lived  at  this  castle,  happy  when  my 
father  was  with  me  and  happy  when  I 


112  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

was  alone.  I  expected  soon  to  go  to 
Vienna,  where  my  father  would  introduce 
me  to  some  of  his  influential  friends.  But 
day  by  day  I  postponed  the  journey. 

"Walking  one  morning  a  few  miles 
from  the  castle,  I  saw  at  the  edge  of  a 
piece  of  woodland  a  female  figure  seated 
beneath  a  tree.  Approaching  nearer,  I 
perceived  that  she  was  young,  and  that 
she  was  sketching.  I  was  surprised,  for  I 
knew  that  in  this  part  of  the  world  young 
women,  at  least  those  of  the  upper  classes, 
to  which  the  costume  and  tastes  of  this 
one  showed  her  to  belong,  were  not 
allowed  to  wander  about  the  country  by 
themselves ;  but  although  I  stood  still  and 
watched  the  young  lady  for  some  time,  no 
companion  appeared  upon  the  scene. 

"  The  path  I  had  intended  to  take  led 
past  the  piece  of  woodland,  and  I  saw  no 
reason  why  I  should  diverge  from  my  pro 
posed  course.  I  accordingly  proceeded, 
and  when  I  reached  the  young  lady  I 
bowed  and  raised  my  hat.  I  think  that 
for  some  time  she  had  perceived  my  ap 
proach,  and  she  looked  up  at  me  with  a 
face  that  was  half  merry,  half  inquisitive, 
and  perfectly  charming.  I  cannot  describe 
the  effect  which  her  expression  had  upon 


THREE   BURGLAll*.  113 

me.  I  had  never  seen  her  before,  but  her 
look  was  not  such  a  one  as  she  would 
bestow  upon  a  stranger.  I  had  the  most 
powerful  desire  to  stop  and  speak  to  her, 
but  having  no  right  to  do  so,  I  should 
have  passed  on,  had  she  not  said  to  me, 
in  the  best  of  English,  4  Good-morning, 
sir.'  Then  I  stopped,  you  may  be  sure. 
I  was  so  accustomed  to  speak  to  those  I 
meet  in  either  French  or  German  that  I 
involuntarily  said  to  her,  '  Bon  jour,  Mad 
emoiselle.'' — 4  You  need  not  speak  French/ 
she  said ;  '  I  am  neither  English  nor  Ameri 
can,  but  I  speak  English.  Are  you  the 
gentleman  who  lives  in  Wulrick  Castle? 
If  so,  we  are  neighbours,  and  I  wish  you 
would  tell  me  why  you  live  there  all  the 
time  alone.' 

"  At  this  I  sat  down  by  her.  c  I  am 
that  person,'  I  said,  and  handed  her  my 
card.  '  But  before  I  say  any  more,  please 
tell  me  who  you  are.'  — '  I  am  Marie  Dor- 
fler.  My  father's  house  is  on  the  other 
side  of  this  piece  of  woodland ;  you  cannot 
see  it  from  here  ;  this  is  part  of  his  estate. 
And  now  tell  me  why  you  live  all  by 
yourself  in  that  old  ruin.'  —  'It  is  not 
altogether  a  ruin,'  I  answered  ;  '  part  of  it 
is  in  very  good  condition.'  And  then  I 


114  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

proceeded  to  give  her  an  account  of  my 
method  of  life  and  my  reasons  for  it.  '  It 
is  interesting,'  she  said,  c  but  it  is  very 
odd.'  —  CI  do  not  think  it  half  so  odd,'  I 
answered, '  as  that  you  should  be  here  by 
yourself.'  — ;  That  is  truly  an  out-of-the- 
way  sort  of  thing,'  she  said  ;  4  but  just  now 
I  am  doing  out-of-the-way  things.  If  I  do 
not  do  them  now,  I  shall  never  have  the 
opportunity  again.  In  two  weeks  I  shall 
be  married,  and  then  I  shall  go  to  Prague, 
and  everything  will  be  by  line  and  rule. 
No  more  delightful  rambles  by  myself. 
No  more  sitting  quietly  in  the  woods 
watching  the  little  birds  and  hares.  No 
more  making  a  sketch  just  where  I  please, 
no  matter  whether  the  ground  be  damp 
or  not.'  — '  I  wonder  that  you  are  allowed 
to  do  these  things  now,'  I  said.  —  'I  am 
not  allowed,'  she  answered.  4 1  do  them 
in  hours  when  I  am  supposed  to  be  paint 
ing  flower  pieces  in  an  upper  room.'  — 4  But 
when  you're  married,'  I  said,  'your  hus 
band  will  be  your  companion  in  such 
rambles/  — '  Hardly,'  she  said,  shrugging 
her  shoulders  ;  '  he  will  be  forty-seven  on 
the  thirteenth  of  next  month,  which  I 
believe  is  July,  and  he  is  a  great  deal  more 
grizzled  than  my  father,  who  is  past  fifty. 


THREE   BURGLARS.  115 

He  is  very  particular  about  all  sorts  of 
things,  as  I  suppose  he  has  to  be,  as  he  is 
a  Colonel  of  infantry.  Nobody  could  pos 
sibly  disapprove  of  my  present  perform 
ances  more  than  he  would.'  I  could  not 
help  ejaculating,  'Why,  then,  do  you 
marry  him  ?  '  She  smiled  at  my  earnest 
ness.  4  Oh,  that  is  all  arranged,'  she  said, 
4  and  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  I  have 
known  for  more  than  a  year  that  I'm  to 
marry  Colonel  Kaldhein,  but  I  cannot  say 
that  I  have  given  myself  much  concern 
about  it  until  recently.  It  now  occurs  to 
me  that  if  I  expect  to  amuse  myself  in  the 
way  I  best  like  I  must  lose  no  time  doing  so.' 
I  looked  at  the  girl  with  earnest  interest. 
4  It  appears  to  me,'  said  I,  '  that  your  ways 
of  amusing  yourself  are  very  much  like 
mine.'  — '  That  is  true/  she  said,  looking 
up  with  animation,  c  they  are.  Is  it  not 
delightful  to  be  free,  to  go  where  you  like, 
and  do  what  you  please,  without  any  one 
to  advise  or  interfere  with  you ? '  —  'It  is 
delightful,'  said  I ;  and  for  half  an  hour  we 
sat  and  talked  about  these  delights  and 
kindred  subjects.  She  was  much  inter 
ested  in  our  castle,  and  urged  me  to  make 
a  sketch  of  it,  so  that  she  may  know  what 
it  now  looked  like.  She  had  seen  it  when 


116  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

a  little  girl,  but  never  since,  and  had  been 
afraid  to  wander  very  far  in  this  direction 
by  herself.  I  told  her  that  it  would  be 
far  better  for  her  to  see  the  castle  with 
her  own  eyes,  and  that  I  could  conduct 
her  to  an  eminence,  not  half  a  mile  away, 
where  she  could  have  an  excellent  view  of 
it.  This  plan  greatly  pleased  her ;  but 
looking  at  her  watch  she  said  that  it  would 
be  too  late  for  her  to  go  that  morning, 
but  if  I  happened  to  come  that  way  the 
next  day,  and  she  should  be  there  to  finish 
her  sketch,  she  would  be  delighted  to  have 
me  show  her  the  eminence." 

"  I  think,"  interrupted  Aunt  Martha, 
"  that  she  was  a  very  imprudent  young 
woman." 

"That  may  be,"  he  replied,  "but  you 
must  remember,  madam,  that  up  to  this 
time  the  young  lady  had  been  subjected  to 
the  most  conventional  trammels,  and  that 
her  young  nature  had  just  burst  out  into 
temporary  freedom  and  true  life.  It  was 
the  caged  bird's  flight  into  the  bright 
summer  air." 

"Just  the  kind  of  birds,"  said  Aunt 
Martha,  "  that  shouldn't  be  allowed  to  fly, 
at  least  until  they  are  used  to  it.  But 
you  can  go  on  with  your  story." 


THREE  BURGLAR*.  117 

"  Well/'  said  the  young  man,  "  the  next 
day  we  met  I  took  her  to  the  piece  of  high 
ground  I  had  mentioned,  and  she  sketched 
the  castle.  After  that  we  met  again  and 
again,  nearly  every  day.  This  sort  of 
story  tells  itself.  I  became  madly  in  love 
with  her,  and  I  am  sure  she  liked  me  very 
well ;  at  all  events  I  was  a  companion  of 
her  own  age  and  tastes,  and  such  a  one, 
she  assured  me,  she  had  never  known 
before,  and  probably  would  never  know 
again." 

u  There  was  some  excuse  for  her,"  said 
Aunt  Martha ;  "  but  still  she  had  no  right 
to  act  in  that  way,  especially  as  she  was  so 
soon  to  be  married." 

"  I  do  not  think  that  she  reasoned  much 
upon  the  subject,"  said  the  young  man, 
"  and  I  am  sure  I  did  not.  We  made  no 
plans.  Every  day  we  thought  only  of 
what  we  were  doing  or  saying,  and  not  at 
all  what  we  had  done  or  would  do.  We 
were  very  happy. 

"  One  morning  I  was  sitting  by 
Marie  in  the  very  place  where  I  had  first 
met  her,  when  we  heard  some  one  rapidly 
approaching.  Looking  up  I  saw  a  tall 
man  in  military  uniform.  '  Heavens ! ' 
cried  Marie,  4  it  is  Colonel  Kaldhein.' 


118  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"  The  situation  was  one  of  which  an 
expectant  bridegroom  would  not  be  likely 
to  ask  many  questions.  Marie  was  seated 
on  a  low  stone  with  her  drawing-block  in 
her  lap.  She  was  finishing  the  sketch  on 
which  she  was  engaged  when  I  first  saw 
her,  and  I  was  kneeling  close  to  her,  look 
ing  over  her  work  and  making  various 
suggestions,  and  I  think  my  countenance 
must  have  indicated  that  I  found  it  very 
pleasant  to  make  suggestions  in  that  way 
to  such  a  pretty  girl.  Our  heads  were 
very  close  together.  Sometimes  we  looked 
at  the  paper,  sometimes  we  looked  at  each 
other.  But  in  the  instant  I  caught  sight 
of  the  Colonel  the  situation  had  changed. 
I  rose  to  my  feet,  and  Marie  began  to  pick 
up  the  drawing  materials,  which  were 
lying  about  her. 

"  Colonel  Kaldhein  came  forward  almost 
at  a  run.  His  eyes  blazed  through  his 
gold  spectacles,  and  his  close-cut  reddish 
beard  seemed  to  be  singeing  with  the  fires 
of  rage.  I  had  but  an  instant  for  observa 
tion,  for  he  came  directly  up  to  me,  and 
with  a  tremendous  objurgation  he  struck 
me  full  in  the  face  with  such  force  that 
the  blow  stretched  me  upon  the  ground. 

"  I   was   almost  stunned ;   but  I   heard 


THREE   BURGLARS.  119 

a  scream  from  Marie,  a  storm  of  angry 
words  from  Kaldhein,  and  I  felt  sure  he 
was  about  to  inflict  further  injury.  He 
was  a  much  stronger  man  than  I  was,  and 
probably  was  armed.  With  a  sudden  in 
stinct  of  self-preservation  I  rolled  down  a 
little  declivity  on  the  edge  of  which  I  had 
fallen,  and  staggering  to  my  feet,  plunged 
into  a  thicket  and  fled.  Even  had  I  been 
in  the  full  possession  o£  my  senses,  I  knew 
that  under  the  circumstances  I  would 
have  been  of  no  benefit  to  Marie  had  I  re 
mained  upon  the  scene.  The  last  thing  I 
heard  was  a  shout  from  Kaldhein,  in 
which  he  declared  that  he  would  kill  me 
yet.  For  some  days  I  did  not  go  out  of 
my  castle.  My  face  was  bruised,  my  soul 
was  dejected.  I  knew  there  was  no  possi 
ble  chance  that  I  should  meet  Marie,  and 
that  there  was  a  chance  that  I  might  meet 
the  angry  Colonel.  An  altercation  at  this 
time  would  be  very  annoying  and  painful 
to  the  lady,  no  matter  what  the  result,  and 
I  considered  it  my  duty  to  do  everything 
that  was  possible  to  avoid  a  meeting  with 
Kaldhein.  Therefore,  as  I  have  said,  I 
shut  myself  up  within  the  walls  of  old 
Wulrick,  and  gave  strict  orders  to  my  ser 
vants  to  admit  no  one. 


120  THE  S  TORIES   OF  THE 

"  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  strangest 
events  of  my  life  occurred.  Sitting  in  an 
upper  room,  gazing  out  of  the  window, 
over  the  fields,  through  which  I  had 
walked  so  happily  but  two  days  before  to 
meet  the  lady  whom  I  had  begun  to  think 
of  as  my  Marie,  I  felt  the  head  of  a  dog 
laid  gently  in  my  lap.  Without  turning 
my  head  I  caressed  the  animal,  and  stroked 
the  long  hair  on  his  neck. 

"  My  hound  Ajax  was  a  dear  companion 
to  me  in  this  old  castle,  although  I  never 
took  him  in  my  walks,  as  he  was  apt  to 
get  into  mischief,  and  when  I  turned  my 
head  to  look  at  him  he  was  gone ;  but 
strange  to  say,  the  hand  which  had  been 
stroking  the  dog  felt  as  if  it  were  still 
resting  on  his  neck. 

"  Quickly  drawing  my  hand  toward  me 
it  struck  the  head  of  the  dog,  and,  moving 
it  backward  and  forward,  I  felt  the  ears 
and  nose  of  the  animal,  and  then  became 
conscious  that  its  head  was  still  resting 
upon  my  knee. 

"  I  started  back.  Had  I  been  stricken 
with  blindness  ?  But  no  ;  turning  my 
head,  I  could  plainly  see  everything  in 
the  room.  The  scene  from  the  window 
was  as  distinct  as  it  ever  had  been.  I 


THREE   BURGLARS.  121 

sprang  to  my  feet,  and,  as  I  stood  wonder 
ing  what  this  strange  thing  could  mean, 
the  dog  brushed  up  against  me  and  licked 
my  hand.  Then  the  idea  suddenly  flashed 
into  my  mind  that  by  some  occult  in 
fluence  Ajax  had  been  rendered  invisible. 
t  "  I  dashed  down-stairs,  and  although  I 
could  neither  see  nor  hear  it,  I  felt  that 
the  dog  was  following  me.  Rushing  into 
the  open  air,  I  saw  one  of  my  men. 
4  Where  is  Ajax  ? '  I  cried.  '  A  very 
strange  thing  has  happened,  sir,'  he  said, 
'  and  I  should  have  come  to  tell  you  of  it, 
had  I  not  been  unwilling  to  disturb  your 
studies.  About  two  hours  ago  Ajax  was 
lying  here  in  the  courtyard ;  suddenly  he 
sprang  to  his  feet  with  a  savage  growl. 
His  hair  stood  straight  upon  his  back,  his 
tail  was  stiff,  and  his  lips  were  drawn 
back,  showing  his  great  teeth.  I  turned 
to  see  what  had  enraged  him,  but  there 
was  absolutely  nothing,  sir,  —  nothing  in 
the  world.  And  never  did  I  see  Ajax  so 
angry.  But  this  lasted  only  for  an  in 
stant.  Ajax  suddenly  backed,  his  tail 
dropped  between  his  legs,  his  head  hung 
down,  and  with  a  dreadful  howl  he  turned, 
and,  leaping  the  wall  of  the  courtyard, 
he  disappeared.  I  have  since  been  watch- 


122  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

ing  for  his  return.  The  gate  is  open,  and 
as  soon  as  he  enters  I  shall  chain  him,  for 
I  fear  the  dog  is  mad.' 

"I  did  not  dare  to  utter  the  thoughts 
that  were  in  my  mind,  but,  bidding  the 
man  inform  me  the  moment  Ajax  re 
turned,  I  reentered  the  castle  and  sat 
down  in  the  great  hall. 

"  The  dog  was  beside  me  ;  his  head 
again  lay  upon  my  knees.  With  a  feeling 
of  awe,  yet  strangely  enough  without  fear, 
I  carefully  passed  my  hand  over  the  ani 
mal's  head.  I  felt  his  ears,  his  nose,  his 
jaws,  and  his  neck.  They  were  not  the 
head,  the  ears,  the  nose,  the  jaws,  or  the 
neck  of  Ajax ! 

"  I  had  heard  of  animals,  and  even  human 
beings,  who  were  totally  invisible,  but  who 
still  retained  their  form,  their  palpability, 
and  all  the  powers  and  functions  of  life.  I 
had  heard  of  houses  haunted  by  invisible 
animals;  I  had  read  De  Kay's  story  of 
the  maiden  Manmat'ha,  whose  coming  her 
lover  perceived  by  the  parting  of  the  tall 
grain  in  the  field  of  ripe  wheat  through 
which  she  passed,  but  whose  form,  although 
it  might  be  folded  in  his  arms,  was  yet  as 
invisible  to  his  sight  as  the  summer  air. 
I  did  not  doubt  for  a  moment  that  the  ani- 


THREE    BURGLARS.  123 

mal  that  had  come  to  me  was  one  of  tli9se 
strange  beings.  I  lifted  his  head ;  it  was 
heavy.  I  took  hold  of  a  paw  which  he 
readily  gave  me ;  he  had  every  attribute  of 
a  real  dog,  except  that  he  could  not  be 
seen." 

"  I  call  that  perfectly  horrible,"  said 
Aunt  Martha  with  a  sort  of  a  gasp. 

"  Perhaps,"  said  the  young  man,  "  you 
would  prefer  that  I  should  not  continue." 

At  this  both  my  wife  and  Aunt  Martha 
declared  that  he  must  go  on,  and  even  I 
did  not  object  to  hearing  the  rest  of  the 
story. 

"  Well,"  said  the  young  man,  "  Ajax 
nerer  came  back.  It  is  generally  believed 
that  dogs  can  see  things  which  are  invisi 
ble  to  us,  and  I  am  afraid  that  my  faithful 
hound  was  frightened,  perhaps  to  death, 
when  he  found  that  the  animal  whose  en 
trance  into  the  courtyard  he  had  perceived 
was  a  supernatural  thing. 

"  But  if  I  needed  a  canine  companion  I 
had  one,  for  by  day  or  night  this  invisible 
dog  never  left  me.  When  I  slept  he  lay 
on  the  floor  by  the  side  of  my  bed ;  if  I 
put  down  my  hand  I  could  always  feel  his 
head,  and  often  he  would  stand  up  and 
press  his  nose  against  me,  as  if  to  assure 


124  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

me  that  he  was  there.  This  strange  com 
panionship  continued  for  several  days,  and  I 
became  really  attached  to  the  invisible  ani 
mal.  His  constant  companionship  seemed 
to  indicate  that  he  had  come  to  guard 
me,  and  that  he  was  determined  to  do  it 
thoroughly.  I  felt  so  much  confidence  in 
his  protection,  although  I  knew  not  how  it 
could  be  exerted,  that  one  morning  I  de 
cided  to  take  a  walk,  and  with  my  hand 
on  the  head  of  the  dog,  to  make  sure  that 
he  was  with  me,  I  strolled  into  the  open 
country. 

"  I  had  walked  about  a  mile,  and  was 
approaching  a  group  of  large  trees,  when 
suddenly  from  behind  one  of  them  the  tall 
figure  of  a  man  appeared.  In  an  instant  I 
knew  it  to  be  Colonel  Kaldhein ;  his  was  a 
face  which  could  not  easily  be  forgotten. 
Without  a  word  he  raised  a  pistol  which 
he  held  in  his  hand  and  fired  at  me.  The 
ball  whistled  over  my  head. 

44  I  stopped  short,  startled,  and  fright 
ened  almost  out  of  my  senses.  I  was  un 
armed,  and  had  no  place  of  refuge.  It- 
was  plain  that  the  man  was  determined 
to  kill  me. 

44  Quickly  re  cocking  his  pistol,  Kaldhein 
raised  it  again.  I  involuntarily  shrank 


THREE    IIURGLARX.  2 

back,  expecting  death  ;  but  before  lie  could 
fire  his  arm  suddenly  dropped,  and  the 
pistol  was  discharged  into  the  ground. 
Then  began  a  strange  scene.  The  man 
shouted,  kicked,  and  beat  up  and  down 
with  his  arms ;  his  pistol  fell  from  his 
hand,  he  sprang  from  side  to  side,  he 
turned  around,  he  struggled  and  yelled. 

"  I  stood  astounded.  For  an  instant  I 
supposed  the  man  had  been  overtaken  by 
some  sort  of  fit ;  but  in  a  flash  the  truth 
came  to  me,  —  Kaldhein  was  being  attacked 
by  my  protector,  the  invisible  dog. 

"  Horrified  by  this  conviction,  my  first 
impulse  was  to  save  the  man ;  and,  with 
out  knowing  what  I  was  going  to  do,  I 
stepped  quickly  toward  him,  but  stum 
bling  over  something  I  did  not  see  I  fell 
sprawling.  Before  I  could  regain  my  feet  I 
saw  Kaldhein  fall  backward  to  the  ground, 
where  a  scene  took  place,  so  terrible  that 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  it.  When, 
with  trembling  steps,  I  approached,  the 
man  was  dead.  The  invisible  dog  had 
almost  torn  him  to  pieces. 

"  I  could  do  nothing.  I  did  not  remain 
upon  the  spot  another  minute,  but  hurried 
home  to  the  castle.  As  I  rapidly  walked 
on  I  felt  the  dog  beside  me,  and,  putting 


126  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

my  hand  upon  him,  I  felt  that  lie  was 
panting  terribly.  For  three  clays  I  did 
not  leave  the  house. 

u  About  the  end  of  this  time  I  was  sit 
ting  in  an  upper  room  of  the  castle,  re 
flecting  upon  the  recent  dreadful  event, 
when  the  thought  struck  me  that  the 
invisible  dog,  who  was  by  my  side,  appar 
ently  asleep,  must  be  of  an  unusually 
powerful  build  to  overcome  so  easily  such 
a  strong  man  as  Kaldhein.  I  felt  a  desire 
to  know  how  large  the  creature  really 
was,  and,  as  I  had  never  touched  any 
portion  of  his  body  back  of  his  shoulders, 
I  now  passed  my  hand  along  his  back.  I 
was  amazed  at  his  length,  and  when  I  hacl 
moved  my  hand  at  least  seven  feet  from 
his  head  it  still  rested  upon  his  body. 
And  then  the  form  of  that  body  began  to 
change  in  a  manner  which  terrified  me  ; 
but  impelled  by  a  horrible  but  irresistible 
curiosity,  my  hand  moved  on. 

"  But  I  no  longer  touched  the  body  of 
a  dog  ;  the  form  beneath  my  hand  was 
cylindrical,  apparently  about  a  foot  in 
diameter.  As  my  hand  moved  on  the 
diameter  diminished,  and  the  skin  of  the 
creature  became  cold  and  clammy.  I  was 
feeling  the  body  of  a  snake  ! 


THREE   BURGLARS.  127 

"  I  now  had  reached  the  open  door  of 
the  room.  The  body  of  the  snake  ex 
tended  through  it.  ,  It  went  on  to  the  top 
of  the  stairs  ;  these  I  began  to  descend, 
my  heart  beating  fast  with  terror,  my  face 
blanched,  I  am  sure,  but  my  hand  still 
moving  along  the  body  of  the  awful 
creature.  I  had  studied  zoology,  giving  a 
good  deal  of  attention  to  reptiles,  and  I 
knew  that,  judged  by  the  ordinary  ratio 
of  diminution  of  the  bodies  of  serpents, 
this  one  must  extend  a  long  distance 
'down  the  stairs. 

"  But  I  had  not  descended  more  than  a 
dozen  steps  before  I  felt  a  shiver  beneath 
my  hand,  and  then  a  jerk,  and  the  next 
moment  the  snake's  body  was  violently 
drawn  upward.  I  withdrew  my  hand 
and  started  to  one  side,  and  then,  how,  I 
know  not,  I  became  aware  that  the  dog 
part  of  the  creature  was  coming  down 
stairs. 

"  I  now  became  possessed  by  a  wild 
terror.  The  creature  must  be  furious  that 
I  had  discovered  his  real  form.  He  had 
always  been  careful  to  keep  his  head 
toward  me.  I  should  be  torn  to  pieces 
as  Kaldhein  had  been  !  Down  the  stairs  I 
dashed,  across  the  courtyard,  and  toward 


128  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

a  lofty  old  tower,  which  stood  in  one 
corner  of  the  castle.  I  ran  up  the  wind 
ing  stairs  of  this  with  a  speed  which 
belongs  only  to  a  frantically  terrified 
creature,  until  I  reached  the  fourth  story, 
where  I  dashed  through  an  open  doorway, 
slammed  behind  me  an  iron  door,  which 
shut  with  a  spring,  and  fell  gasping  upon 
the  floor. 

"  In  less  than  a  minute  I  was  aware, 
by  a  slight  rattling  of  the  grate-hinges, 
that  something  was  pushing  against  the 
door ;  but  I  did  not  move.  I  knew  that  I 
was  safe.  The  room  in  which  I  lay  was  a 
prison  dungeon,  and  in  it,  in  the  olden 
times,  it  is  said,  men  had  been  left  to 
perish.  Escape  or  communication  with 
the  outer  world  was  impossible.  A  little 
light  and  air  came  through  a  narrow  slit  in 
the  wall,  and  the  door  could  not  be  forced. 

"  I  knew  that  the  invisible  dog,  or 
whatever  it  was,  could  not  get  in  unless  '' 
the  door  was  open.  I  had  frequently 
noticed  that  when  he  entered  a  room  it 
was  through  an  open  door,  and  I  some 
times  knew  of  his  approach  by  seeing 
an  unlatched  door  open  without  visible 
cause  ;  so,  feeling  secure  for  the  present, 
I  lay  and  gasped  and  panted. 


THREE   BURGLARS.  129 

"  After  the  lapse  of  a  few  hours,  how 
ever,  I  was  seized  by  a  new  terror.  How 
was  I  ever  to  get  out  of  this  horrible 
dungeon  ?  Even  if  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
face  the  dog,  trusting  that  he  had  recov 
ered  from  his  momentary  anger,  I  had  no 
means  of  opening  the  door,  and  as  to 
making  any  one  hear  me  I  knew  that  was 
impossible. 

"  I  had  no  hope  that  my  servants  would 
seek  me  here.  I  had  not  seen  any  one 
when  I  ran  into  the  tower,  and  if  they 
should  discover  that  I  was  in  this  dun 
geon,  how  could  they  open  the  door? 
The  key  was  in  my  father's  possession. 
He  had  taken  it  to  Vienna  to  exhibit  it  as  a 
curiosity  to  some  of  his  mechanical  friends. 
He  believed  that  there  was  not  such 
another  key  in  the  world.  I  was  in  the 
habit  of  making  long  absences  from  the 
castle,  and  if  I  should  be  looked  for  I 
believed  that  the  tower  would  be  the  last 
place  visited. 

"  Night  came  on  ;  the  little  light  in  the 
room  vanished,  and,  hungry,  thirsty,  and 
almost  hopeless,  I  fell  asleep. 

"During  the  night  there  was  a  most 
dreadful  storm.  The  thunder  roared,  the 
lightning  flashed  through  the  slit  in  the 


130  THE  STORIES  OF  THE 

wall,  and  the  wind  blew  with  such  terrific 
violence  that  the  tower  shook  and  trem 
bled.  After  a  time  I  heard  a  tremendous 
crash  as  of  falling  walls,  and  then  another, 
and  now  I  felt  the  wind  blowing  into  my 
prison. 

"  There  was  no  further  sleep  for  me. 
Trembling  with  a  fearful  apprehension 
of  what  might  happen  next,  I  cowered 
against  the  wall  until  the  day  broke,  and 
then  I  perceived  that  in  front  of  me  was  a 
great  hole  in  the  wall  of  the  dungeon, 
which  extended  for  more  than  a  yard 
above  the  floor.  I  sat  and  gazed  at  this 
until  the  light  became  stronger,  and  then 
I  cautiously  approached  the  aperture  and 
looked  out.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  castle 
lay  in  ruins  before  me  ! 

"  It  was  easy  to  see  what  had  happened. 
The  storm  had  demolished  the  crumbling 
walls  of  the  old  building,  and  the  tower, 
itself  frail  and  tottering,  stood  alone,  high 
above  the  prostrate  ruins.  If  the  winds 
should  again  arise  it  must  fall,  and  at  any 
moment  its  shaken  foundations  might  give 
way  beneath  it. 

"  Through  the  hole  in  the  wall,  which 
had  been  caused  by  the  tearing  away  of 
some  of  the  connection  between  the  tower 


THREE  BURGLARS.  13i 

and  main  building,  I  could  look  down  on 
the  ground  below,  covered  with  masses  of 
jagged  stone ;  but  there  was  no  way  in 
which  I  could  get  down.  I  could  not 
descend  that  perpendicular  wall.  If  I 
leaped  out,  death  would  be  certain. 

"  As  I  crouched  at  the  opening  I  felt  the 
head  of  a  dog  pushed  against  me.  A 
spasm  of  terror  ran  through  me,  but  the 
moment  the  creature  began  to  lick  my 
hands  I  knew  that  I  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  him.  Instantly  my  courage  returned. 
I  felt  that  he  was  my  protector.  I  patted 
his  head  and  he  renewed  his  caresses. 

"  Passing  my  hand  over  him,  I  found  he 
was  holding  himself  in  his  present  position 
by  means  of  his  forelegs,  which  were 
stretched  out  upon  the  floor.  What  a  dog 
this  must  be,  who  could  climb  a  wall !  But 
I  gave  no  time  to  conjectures  of  this  sort. 
How  could  I  avail  myself  of  his  assistance  ? 
In  what  manner  could  he  enable  me  to  es 
cape  from  that  dangerous  tower  ? 

"  Suddenly  a  thought  came  to  me.  I 
remembered  the  snake  part  of  him.  Judg 
ing  from  the  ratio  of  diminution,  which  I 
have  mentioned  before,  that  part,  if  hang 
ing  down,  must  reach  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
to  the  ground.  By  taking  advantage  of 


132  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

this  means  of  descent  I  might  be  saved, 
but  the  feat  would  require  dexterity  and 
an  immense  amount  of  faith.  This  ser 
pent-like  portion  of  the  animal  was  invisi 
ble.  How  could  I  know  how  long  it  was  ! 

"But  there  was  no  time  for  consideration; 
the  wind  had  again  arisen,  and  was  blowing 
with  fury.  The  tower  shook  beneath  me  ; 
at  any  moment  it  might  fall.  If  I  should 
again  escape  from  death,  through  the  as 
sistance  of  my  invisible  friend,  I  must 
avail  myself  of  that  assistance  instantly. 

"  I  stopped  and  felt  the  animal.  He 
still  hung  by  part  of  his  body  and  by  his 
forelegs  to  the  floor  of  the  dungeon,  and  by 
reaching  out  I  could  feel  that  the  rest 
of  him  extended  downward.  I  therefore 
seized  his  body  in  my  arms,  threw  myself 
out  of  the  aperture,  and  began  to  slide 
down. 

"  In  a  very  short  time  I  found  that  I  had 
reached  the  snake  portion  of  the  creature, 
and,  throwing  my  arms  and  legs  around  it, 
I  endeavoured  with  all  my  strength  to  pre 
vent  a  too  rapid  descent ;  but  in  spite  of  all 
my  efforts,  my  downward  progress  was 
faster  than  I  would  have  wished  it  to  be. 
But  there  was  no  stopping;  I  must  slip 
down. 


THREE   RURGLARS.  133 

"  In  these  moments  of  rapid  descent  my 
mind  was  filled  with  wild  anxiety  concern, 
ing  the  serpent-like  form  to  which  I  was 
clinging.  I  remembered  in  a  flash  that 
there  were  snakes  whose  caudal  extremity 
dwindled  away  suddenly  into  a  point. 
This  one  might  do  so,  and  at  any  instant  I 
might  come  to  the  end  of  the  tail  and  drop 
upon  the  jagged  stones  below. 

"  Calculation  after  calculation  of  the 
ratio  of  diminution  flashed  through  my 
mind  during  that  awful  descent.  My 
whole  soul  was  centred  upon  one  point. 
When  would  this  support  end  ?  "When 
would  I  drop? 

"  Fortunately  I  was  on  the  leeward  side 
of  the  tower,  and  I  was  not  swung  about 
by  the  wind.  Steadily  I  descended,  and 
steadily  the  diameter  of  the  form  I  grasped 
diminished ;  soon  I  could  grasp  it  in  my 
hand ;  then  with  a  terrified  glance  I  looked 
below.  I  was  still  at  a  sickening  distance 
from  the  ground.  I  shut  my  eyes.  I 
slipped  down,  down,  down.  The  tail 
became  like  a  thick  rope  which  I  encircled 
with  each  hand.  It  became  thinner  and 
thinner.  It  grew  so  small  that  I  could  not 
hold  it ;  but  as  I  felt  it  slip  from  my  fingers 
my  feet  rested  on  a  pile  of  stones. 


134  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"  "  Bewildered  and  almost  exhausted,  I 
stumbled  over  the  ruins,  gained  the  unen 
cumbered  ground,  and  ran  as  far  from  the 
tower  as  I  could,  sinking  down  at  last 
against  the  trunk  of  a  tree  in  a  neighbour 
ing  field.  Scarcely  had  I  reached  this 
spot  when  the  fury  of  the  wind-storm  ap 
peared  to  redouble,  and  before  the  wild  and 
shrieking  blast  the  tower  bent  and  then 
fell  with  a  crash  upon  the  other  ruins. 

"The  first  thought  that  came  into  my 
mind  when  I  beheld  the  dreadful  specta 
cle  concerned  the  creature  who  had  twice 
saved  my  life.  Had  he  escaped,  or  was  he 
crushed  beneath  that  mass  of  stone  ?  I 
felt  on  either  side  to  discover  if  he  were 
near  me,  but  he  was  not.  Had  he  given 
his  life  for  mine  ? 

"  Had  I  been  stronger  I  would  have 
searched  for  him  ;  I  would  have  clambered 
among  the  ruins  to  see  if  I  could  discover 
his  mangled  form.  If  I  could  but  reach 
his  faithful  head  I  would  stroke  and 
caress  it,  living  or  dead.  But  excitement, 
fatigue,  and  want  of  food  had  made  me  so 
weak  that  I  could  do  nothing  but  sit  upon 
the  ground  with  my  back  against  the 
tree. 

"  While  thus  resting  I  perceived  that 


THREE  BURGLARS.  185 

the  whole  of  the  tower  had  not  been 
demolished  by  the  storm.  Some  of  the 
rooms  in  which  we  had  lived,  having  been 
built  at  a  later  date  than  the  rest  of  the 
great  edifice,  had  resisted  the  power  of 
the  wind  and  were  still  standing. 

"From  the  direction  of  the  uninjured 
portion  of  the  castle  I  now  saw  approach 
ing  a  light-coloured  object,  which  seemed 
to  be  floating  in  the  air  about  a  foot  from 
the  ground.  As  it  came  nearer  I  saw  that 
it  was  a  basket,  and  I  immediately  under 
stood  the  situation.  My  faithful  friend 
was  alive,  and  was  bringing  me  some 
refreshments. 

"  On  came  the  basket,  rising  and  falling 
with  the  bounds  of  the  dog.  It  was  truly 
an  odd  spectacle,  but  a  very  welcome  one. 
In  a  few  moments  the  basket  was  deposited 
at  my  side,  and  I  was  caressing  the  head 
of  the  faithful  dog.  In  the  basket  I  found 
a  bottle  of  wine  and  some  bread  and  meat, 
which  the  good  creature  had  doubtless 
discovered  in  the  kitchen  of  the  castle, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  I  was  myself 
again.  The  storm  had  now  almost  passed 
away,  and  I  arose  and  went  to  my  own 
rooms,  my  friend  and  protector  still  keep 
ing  close  to  my  side. 


136  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  as  1 
sat  wondering  what  had  happened  to  my 
servants,  and  whether  my  father  had  been 
apprised  of  tha  disaster  to  the  castle,  I 
felt  something  pulling  at  the  skirt  of  my 
coat.  I  put  out  my  hand  and  found  that 
it  was  the  invisible  dog.  Imagining  that 
he  wished  me  to  follow  him,  I  arose,  and, 
obeying  the  impulse  given  me  by  his  gentle 
strain  upon  my  coat,  I  followed  him  out 
of  the  door,  across  the  courtyard,  and  into 
the  open  country.  We  went  on  for  a  con 
siderable  distance.  A  gentle  touch  of  my 
coat  admonished  me  when  I  turned  from 
the  direction  in  which  it  was  desired  that 
I  should  go. 

"  After  a  walk  of  about  half  an  hour  I 
approached  a  great  oak-tree,  with  low, 
wide-spreading  branches.  Some  one  was 
sitting  beneath  it.  Imagining  the  truth, 
I  rushed  forward.  It  was  Marie  ! 

"  It  was  needless  for  us  to  say  anything, 
to  explain  the  state  of  our  feelings  toward 
each  other.  That  tale  was  told  by  the  de 
light  with  which  we  met.  When  I  asked 
her  how  she  came  to  be  there,  she  told  me 
that  about  an  hour  before,  while  sitting  in 
front  of  her  father's  mansion,  she  had  felt 
something  gently  pulling  at  her  skirts; 


THREE   BURGLARS.  137 

and,  although  at  first  frightened,  she  was 
at  length  impelled  to  obey  the  impulse, 
and,  without  knowing  whether  it  was  the 
wind  or  some  supernatural  force  which 
had  led  her  here,  she  had  come. 

"  We  had  a  great  deal  to  say  to  each 
other.  She  told  me  that  she  had  been 
longing  to  send  me  a  message  to  warn  me 
that  Colonel  Kaldhein  would  certainly  kill 
me  the  next  time  he  saw  me  ;  but  she  had 
no  means  of  sending  me  such  a  message, 
for  the  Colonel  had  had  her  actions  closely 
watched. 

"  When  the  news  came  of  Kaldhein's 
death  s.he  at  first  feared  that  I  had  killed 
him,  and  would  therefore  be  obliged  to 
fly  the  country ;  but  when  it  was  known 
that  he  had  been  almost  torn  to  pieces  by 
wild  beasts,  she,  like  every  one  else,  was 
utterly  amazed,  and  could  not  understand 
the  matter  at  all.  None  but  the  most 
ferocious  creatures  could  have  inflicted 
the  injuries  of  which  the  man  had  died, 
and  where  those  creatures  came  from  no 
one  knew.  Some  people  thought  that  a 
pack  of  blood-hounds  might  have  broken 
loose  from  some  of  the  estates  of  the  sur 
rounding  country,  and,  in  the  course  of 
their  wild  journeyings,  might  have  met 


138  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

with  the  Colonel,  and  fallen  upon  him. 
Others  surmised  that  a  bear  had  come 
down  from  the  mountains ;  but  the  fact 
was  that  nobody  knew  anything  about 
it. 

"  I  did  not  attempt  to  acquaint  Marie 
with  the  truth.  At  that  moment  the  in 
visible  dog  was  lying  at  my  side,  and  I 
feared  if  I  mentioned  his  existence  to 
Marie  she  might  fly  in  terror.  To  me 
there  was  only  one  important  phase  of  the 
affair,  and  that  was  that  Marie  was  now 
free,  that  she  might  be  mine. 

44  Before  we  parted  we  were  affianced 
lovers,  pledged  to  marry  as  soon  as  possi 
ble.  I  wrote  to  my  father,  asking  for  his 
permission  to  wed  the  lady.  But  in  his 
reply  he  utterly  forbade  any  such  mar 
riage.  Marie  also  discovered  that  her 
parents  would  not  permit  a  union  with  a 
foreigner,  and  would  indeed  oppose  her 
marriage  with  any  one  at  this  time. 

44  However,  as  usual,  love  triumphed, 
and  after  surmounting  many  difficulties  we 
were  married  and  fled  to  America.  Since 
that  time  I  have  been  obliged  to  support 
myself  and  my  wife,  for  my  father  will 
give  me  no  assistance.  He  had  proposed 
a  very  different  career  for  me,  and  was 


THREE  BURGLARS.  139 

extremely  angry  when  he  found  his  plans 
had  been  completely  destroyed.  But  we 
are  hopeful,  we  work  hard,  and  hope  that 
we  may  yet  be  able  to  support  ourselves 
comfortably  without  aid  from  any  one. 
We  are  young,  we  are  strong,  we  trust 
each  other,  and  have  a  firm  faith  in  our 
success. 

"  I  had  only  one  regret  in  leaving 
Europe,  and  that  was  that  my  faithful 
friend,  the  noble  and  devoted  invisible 
dog,  was  obliged  to  remain  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  Why  this  was  so  I 
do  not  know,  but  perhaps  it  was  for  the 
best.  I  never  told  my  wife  of  his  exist 
ence,  and  if  she  had  accidentally  discov 
ered  it,  I  know  not  what  might  have  been 
the  effects  upon  her  nervous  system. 

"  The  dog  accompanied  me  through 
Austria,  Switzerland,  and  France  to 
Havre,  from  which  port  we  sailed.  I 
took  leave  of  him  on  thet  gang-plank.  He 
licked  my  hands,  and  I  caressed  and 
stroked  him.  People  might  have  thought 
that  my  actions  denoted  insanity,  but 
every  one  was  so  'greatly  occupied  in 
these  last  moments  before  departure,  that 
perhaps  I  was  not  noticed.  Just  as  I 
left  him  and  hastened  on  board,  a  sailor 


140  THE   STORIES   OF  THE 

fell  overboard  from  the  gang-plank.  He 
was  quickly  rescued,  but  could  not  imagine 
why  he  had  fallen.  I  believe,  however, 
that  he  was  tripped  up  by  the  snake  part 
of  my  friend  as  he  convulsively  rushed 
away." 

The  young  man  ceased,  and  gazed  pen 
sively  upon  the  floor. 

"  Well,  well,  well !  "  exclaimed  Aunt 
Martha,  "if  those  are  the  sort  of  expe 
riences  you  had,  I  don't  wonder  that 
Realism  was  wonderful  enough  for  you. 
The  invisible  creature  was  very  good  to 
you,  I  am  sure,  but  I  am  glad  it  did  not 
come  with  you  to  America." 

David,  who  had  been  waiting  for  an 
opportunity  to  speak,  now  interrupted 
further  comments  by  stating  that  it  was 
daylight,  and  if  I  thought  well  of  it,  he 
would  open  the  window-shutters,  so  that 
we  might  see  any  one  going  toward  the 
town.  A  milkman,  he  said,  passed  the 
house  very  early  every  morning.  When 
the  shutters  were  opened  we  were  all 
amazed  that  the  night  should  have  passed 
so  quickly. 

The  tall  burglar  and  the  young  man 
now  began  to  exhibit  a  good  deal  of 
anxiety. 


THREE   BUEGLAES.  141 

"  I  should  like  very  much  to  know," 
said  the  former,  "  what  you  intend  to  do 
in  regard  to  us.  It  cannot  be  that  you 
think  of  placing  that  young  gentleman 
and  myself  in  the  hands  of  the  law.  Of 
course,  this  man,"  pointing  to  the  stout 
Burglar,  "  cannot  expect  anything  but  a 
just  punishment  of  his  crimes ;  but  after 
what  we  have  told  you,  you  must  certainly 
be  convinced  that  our  connection  with  the 
affair  is  entirely  blameless,  and  should  be 
considered  as  a  piece  of  very  bad  luck." 

"  That,"  said  I,  "  is  a  matter  which  will 
receive  all  the  consideration  it  needs." 

At  this  moment  David  announced  the 
milkman.  Counselling  my  man  to  keep 
strict  guard  over  the  prisoners,  I  went 
out  to  the  road,  stopped  the  milkman,  and 
gave  him  a  message  which  I  was  certain 
would  insure  the  prompt  arrival  at  my 
house  of  sufficient  force  to  take  safe  charge 
of  the  burglars.  Excited  with  the  impor 
tance  of  the  commission,  he  whipped  up 
his  horse  and  dashed  away. 

Wheir  I  returned  to  the  house  I  besought 
my  wife  and  Aunt  Martha  to  go  to  bed, 
that  they  might  yet  get  some  hours  of 
sleep  ;  but  both  refused.  They  did  not  feel 
in  the  least  like  sleep,  and  there  was  a 


142  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

subject  on  which  they  wished  to  consult 
with  me  in  the  dining-room. 

"  Now,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  when  the 
door  had  been  closed,  "these  men  have 
freely  told  us  their  stories  ;  whether  they 
are  entirely  true  or  not,  must,  of  course,  be 
a  matter  of  opinion ;  but  they  have  laid 
their  cases  before  us,  and  we  should  not 
place  them  all  in  the  hands  of  the  officers 
of  the  law  without  giving  them  due  con 
sideration,  and  arriving  at  a  decision  which 
shall  be  satisfactory  to  ourselves." 

"Let  us  take  them  in  order,"  said  I. 
"  What  do  you  think  of  the  tall  man's 
case  ?  " 

"I  think  he  is  a  thief  and  manufacturer 
of  falsehoods,"  said  my  wife  promptly. 

"  I  am  afraid,"  said  Aunt  Martha,  "that 
he  is  not  altogether  innocent ;  but  there  is 
one  thing  greatly  in  his  favour,  —  when  he 
told  of  the  feelings  which  overcame  him 
when  he  saw  that  little  child  sleeping 
peacefully  in  its  bed  in  the  house  which 
he  had  unintentionally  robbed,  I  felt 
there  must  be  good  points  in  that  man's 
nature.  What  do  you  think  of  him  ?  " 

"  I  think  he  is  worst  of  the  lot,"  I  an 
swered,  "  and  as  there  are  now  two  votes 
against  him,  he  must  go  to  the  lock-up. 


THREE   BURGLARS.  143 

And  now  what  of  the  stout  fellow?"  I 
asked. 

"  Oh,  he  is  a  burglar  by  his  own  confes 
sion,"  said  my  wife  ;  "  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  that." 

"  I  am  afraid  you  are  right,"  said  Aunt 
Martha. 

"  I  know  she  is,"  said  I,  "  and  James 
Barlow,  or  whatever  his  name  may  be, 
shall  be  delivered  to  the  constable." 

"  Of  course,  there  can  be  no  difference 
of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  young  man," 
said  Aunt  Martha  quickly.  "  Both  the 
others  admitted  that  he  had  nothing  to  do 
with  this  affair  except  as  a  journalist,  and 
although  I  do  not  think  he  ought  to  get  his 
realistic  ideas  in  that  way,  I  would  con 
sider  it  positively  wicked  to  send  him  into 
court  in  company  with  those  other  men. 
Consider  the  position  in  which  he  would 
be  placed  before  the  world.  Consider  his 
young  wife." 

"  I  cannot  say,"  said  my  wife,  "  that  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  all  parts  of  his  story." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  I,  laughing,  "  that  you 
particularly  refer  to  the  invisible  dog- 
snake." 

"  I'm  not  so  sure  about  all  that,"  she 
answered.  "  Since  the  labours  of  the  psychic 


144  THE   STORIES   OF  TII2 

researchers  began,  \ve  have  heard  of  a  great 
many  strange  things  ;  but  it  is  evident  that 
he  is  a  young  man  of  education  and  culture, 
and  in  all  probability  a  journalist  or  liter 
ary  man.  I  do  not  think  he  should  be  sent 
to  the  lock-up  with  common  criminals." 

"  There !  "  cried  Aunt  Martha,  "  two  in 
his  favour.  He  must  be  released.  It's  a 
poor  rule  that  does  not  work  both  ways." 

I  stood  for  a  few  moments  undecided. 
If  left  to  myself,  I  would  have  sent  the 
trio  to  the  county  town,  where,  if  any  one 
of  them  could  prove  his  innocence,  he 
could  do  so  before  the  constitutional  au 
thorities;  but  having  submitted  the  mat 
ter  to  my  wife  and  aunt,  I  could  not  well 
override  their  decision.  As  for  what  the 
young  man  said,  I  gave  it  no  weight  what 
ever,  for  of  course  he  would  say  the  best 
he  could  for  himself.  But  the  testimony 
of  the  others  had  weight.  When  they 
both  declared  that  he  was  not  a  burglar, 
but  merely  a  journalist,  engaged  in  what 
he  supposed  to  be  his  duty,  it  would  seem 
to  be  a  cruel  thing  to  stamp  him  as  a  crim 
inal  by  putting  him  in  charge  of  the  con 
stables. 

But  my  indecision  soon  came  to  an  end, 
for  Aunt  Martha  declared  that  no  time 


THREE   BURGLARS.  145 

should  be  lost  in  setting  the  young  man 
free,  for  should  the  people  in  town  arrive 
and  see  him  sitting  bound  with  the  others 
it  would  ruin  his  character  forever.  My 
wife  agreed. 

"  Whatever  there  may  be  of  truth  in 
his  story,"  she  said,  "  one  of  two  things  is 
certain,  —  either  he  has  had  most  wonderful 
experiences  out  of  which  he  may  construct 
realistic  novels  which  will  give  him  fortune 
and  reputation,  or  he  has  a  startling  imag 
ination,  which,  if  used  in  the  production 
of  works  in  the  romantic  school,  will  be  of 
the  same  advantage  to  his  future.  Looking 
upon  it,  even  in  this  light  and  without  any 
reference  to  his  family  and  the  possible 
effects  on  his  own  moral  nature,  we  shall 
assume  a  great  responsibility  in  deliberately 
subjecting  such  a  person  to  criminal  pros 
ecution  and  perhaps  conviction." 

This  was  enough.  "  Well,"  said  I,  "  we 
will  release  the  young  fellow  and  send  the 
two  other  rascals  to  jail." 

"  That  was  not  well  expressed,"  said  my 
wife,  "  but  we  will  not  criticise  words  at 
present." 

We  returned  to  the  library  and  T  an 
nounced  my  decision.  When  he  heard  it 
the  stout  burglar  exhibited  no  emotion. 


146  THE  STOEIES   OF  THE 

His  expression  indicated  that,  having  been 
caught,  he  expected  to  be  sent  to  jail,  and 
that  was  the  end  of  it.  Perhaps  he  had 
been  through  this  experience  so  often  that 
he  had  become  used  to  it.  The  tall  man, 
however,  took  the  announcement  in  a  very 
different  way.  His  face  grew  dark  and  his 
eyes  glittered.  "  You  are  making  a  great 
mistake,"  he  said  to  me,  "  a  very  great  mis 
take,  and  you  will  have  to  bear  the  conse 
quences." 

"  Very  good,"  said  I,  "I  will  remember 
that  remark  when  your  trial  comes  on." 

The  behaviour  of  the  young  man  was 
unexceptional.  He  looked  upon  us  with 
a  face  full  of  happy  gratitude,  and,  as  he 
thanked  us  for  the  kind  favour  and  the  jus 
tice  which  we  had  shown  him,  his  eyes 
seemed  dim  with  tears.  Aunt  Martha  was 
much  affected. 

"  I  wonder  if  his  mother  is  living,"  she 
whispered  to  me.  "  A  wife  is  a  great  deal, 
but  a  mother  is  more.  If  I  had  thought 
of  her  sooner  I  would  have  spoken  more 
strongly  in  his  favour.  And  now  you  should 
untie  him  at  once  and  let  him  go  home. 
His  wife  must  be  getting  terribly  anxious." 

The  young  man  overheard  this  last 
remark. 


THREE   BURGLARS.  147 

"  You  will  confer  a  great  favour  on  me, 
sir,"  lie  said,  "if  you  will  let  me  depart  as 
soon  as  possible.  I  feel  a  great  repugnance 
to  be  seen  in  company  with  these  men,  as 
you  may  imagine,  from  wearing  a  mask  on 
coming  here.  If  I  leave  immediately  I 
think  I  can  catch  the  first  train  from  your 
station." 

I  considered  the  situation.  If  I  did  what 
I  was  asked,  there  would  be  two  bound 
burglars  to  guard,  three  women  and  a 
child  to  protect,  an  uncertain  stranger  at 
liberty,  and  only  David  and  myself  to  at 
tend  to  the  whole  business.  "No,  sir," 
said  I,  "  I  shall  not  untie  you  until  the 
officers  I  sent  for  are  near  at  hand ;  then 
I  will  release  you,  and  you  can  leave  the 
house  by  the  back  way  without  being  seen 
by  them.  There  are  other  morning  trains 
which  will  take  you  into  the  city  early 
enough." 

"  I  think  you  are  a  little  hard  on  him," 
remarked  Aunt  Martha,  but  the  young  man 
made  no  complaint. 

"  I  will  trust  myself  to  you,  sir,"  he  said. 

The  officers  arrived  much  sooner  than  I 
expected.  There  were  five  of  them,  in 
cluding  the  Chief  of  Police,  and  they  were 
accompanied  by  several  volunteer  assist- 


148  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

ants,  among  whom  was  the  milkman  wlio 
had  been  my  messenger.  This  morning 
his  customers  might  wait  for  their  milk, 
for  all  business  must  give  way  before  such 
an  important  piece  of  sightseeing  as  this. 

I  had  barely  time  to  untie  the  young 
man  and  take  him  to  the  back  of  the  house 
before  the  officers  and  their  followers  had 
entered  the  front  door.  There  was  now  a 
great  deal  of  questioning,  a  great  deal  of 
explanation,  a  great  deal  of  discussion  as  to 
whether  my  way  of  catching  burglars  was 
advisable  or  not,  and  a  good  deal  of  talk 
about  the  best  method  of  taking  the  men 
to  town.  Some  of  the  officers  were  in  fa 
vour  of  releasing  the  two  men,  and  then 
deciding  in  what  manner  they  should  be 
taken  to  town  ;  and  if  this  plan  had  been 
adopted,  I  believe  that  these  two  alert 
and  practical  rascals  would  have  taken 
themselves  out  of  my  house  without  the 
assistance  of  the  officers,  or  at  least  would 
have  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and 
perhaps  injury  in  endeavouring  to  do  so. 

But  the  Chief  of  Police  was  of  my  mind, 

and  before  the  men  were  entirely  released 

from  the  ropes  by  which  I  had  tied  them, 

they  were  securely  manacled. 

A  requisition  made  on  David  and  myself 


THEEE  BURGLARS.  149 

to  appear  as  witnesses,  the  two  men  were 
taken  from  the  house  to  the  wagons  in 
which  the  officers  and  their  followers  had 
come.  My  wife  and  Aunt  Martha  had 
gone  upstairs  before  the  arrival  of  the 
police,  and  were  watching  the  outside  pro 
ceeding  from  a  window. 

Standing  in  the  hallway,  I  glanced  into 
the  dining-room,  and  was  surprised  to  see 
the  young  man  still  standing  by  a  side 
door.  I  had  thought  him  gone,  but  per 
haps  it  was  wise  in  him  to  remain,  and  not 
show  himself  upon  the  road  until  the  coast 
was  entirely  clear.  He  did  not  see  me, 
and  was  looking  backward  into  the  kitchen, 
a  cheerful  and  animated  expression  upon 
his  face.  This  expression  did  not  strike 
me  pleasantly.  He  had  escaped  a  great 
danger,  it  was  true,  but  it  was  no  reason 
for  this  rather  obtrusive  air  of  exultation. 
Just  then  Alice  came  into  the  dining-room 
from  the  kitchen,  and  the  young  man 
stepped  back,  so  that  she  did  not  notice 
him.  As  she  passed  he  gently  threw  his 
arm  quietly  around  her  neck  and  kissed 
her. 

At  that  very  instant,  even  before  the 
girl  had  time  to  exclaim,  in  rushed  David 
from  the  outer  side  door. 


150  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

"  I've  been  watching  you,  you  rascal," 
he  shouted ;  "  you're  done  for  now  !  "  and 
he  threw  his  strong  arms  around  the  man, 
pinioning  his  arms  to  his  side. 

The  young  fellow  gave  a  great  jerk,  and 
began  to  struggle  powerfully.  His  face 
turned  black  with  rage  ;  he  swore,  he 
kicked.  He  made  the  most  frenzied  efforts 
to  free  himself,  but  David's  arms  were 
strong,  his  soul  was  full  of  jealous  fury, 
and  in  a  moment  I  had  come  to  his  assist 
ance.  Each  of  us  taking  the  young  fel 
low  by  an  arm,  we  ran  him  into  the  hallway 
and  out  of  the  front  door,  Alice  aiding 
us  greatly  by  putting  her  hands  against 
the  man's  back  and  pushing  most  forcibly. 
"  Here's  another  one,"  cried  David. 
"  I'll  appear  against  him.  He's  the  worst 
of  the  lot." 

Without  knowing  what  it  all  meant,  the 
Chief  clapped  the  nippers  on  our  prisoner, 
justly  believing  that  if  burglars  were  about 
to  show  themselves  so  unexpectedly,  the 
best  thing  to  do  was  to  handcuff  them  as 
fast  as  they  appeared,  and  then  to  ask 
questions.  The  reasons  for  not  having 
produced  this  man  before,  and  for  pro 
ducing  him  now,  were  not  very  satisfac 
tory  to  the  officer. 


THREE   BURGLARS. 

"Have  you  any  more  in  the  cellar?"  lie 
asked.  "If  so,  I  should  like  to  take  a 
look  at  them  before  I  start  away." 

At  this  moment  Aunt  Martha  made  her 
appearance  at  the  front  door. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that 
young  man  ?  "  she  asked  sharply.  "  What 
right  have  you  to  put  irons  upon  him  ?  " 

"  Aunt  Martha,"  said  I,  stepping  back 
to  her,  "  what  do  you  think  he  has  done  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  she  :  "  how  should 
I  know  ?  All  I  know  is  that  we  agreed 
to  set  him  free." 

I  addressed  her  solemnly  :  "  David  and 
I  believe  him  to  be  utterly  depraved.  He 
.availed  himself  of  the  first  moments  of 
his  liberation  to  kiss  Alice."  Aunt  Mar 
tha  looked  at  me  with  wide-open  eyes, 
and  then  her  brows  contracted. 

"  He  did,  did  he  ?  "  said  she.  "  And  that 
is  the  kind  of  a  man  he  is.  Very  good. 
Let  him  go  to  jail  with  the  others.  I  don't 
believe  one  word  about  his  young  wife. 
If  kissing  respectable  young  women  is  the 
way  he  studies  Realism  the  quicker  he  goes 
to  jail  the  better,"  and  with  that  she 
walked  into  the  house. 

When  the  men  had  been  placed  in  the 
two  vehicles  in  which  the  police  had  come, 


152  THE  S  TO  HIES   OF  THE 

the  Chief  and  I  made  an  examination  of 
the  premises,  and  we  found  that  the  house 
had  been  entered  by  a  kitchen  window,  in 
exactly  the  manner  which  the  tall  burglar 
had  described.  Outside  of  this  window, 
close  to  the  wall,  we  found  a  leathern  bag, 
containing  what  the  Chief  declared  to  be 
an  excellent  assortment  of  burglars'  tools. 
The  officers  and  their  prisoners  now  drove 
away,  and  we  were  left  to  a  long  morning 
nap,  if  we  were  so  fortunate  as  to  get  it, 
and  a  late  breakfast. 

In  the  course  of  the  trial  of  the  three 
men  who  had  entered  my  house  some  in 
teresting  points  in  regard  to  them  were 
brought  out.  Several  detectives  and  po 
licemen  from  New  York  were  present,  and 
their  testimony  proved  that  my  three  burg 
lars  were  men  of  eminence  in  their  pro 
fession,  and  that  which  most  puzzled  the 
metropolitan  detectives  was  to  discover 
why  these  men  should  have  been  willing 
to  devote  their  high  talents  to  the  com 
paratively  insignificant  business  of  break 
ing  into  a  suburban  dwelling. 

The  tall  man  occupied  a  position  of 
peculiar  eminence  in  criminal  circles.  He 
was  what  might  be  called  a  criminal  man 
ager.  He  would  take  contracts  for  the 


THREE   BURGLARS.  158 

successful  execution  of  certain  crimes,— 
bank  robberies,  for  instance,  —  and  while 
seldom  taking  part  in  the  actual  work  of  a 
burglary  or  similar  operation,  he  would 
plan  all  the  details  of  the  affair,  and  select 
arid  direct  his  agents  with  great  skill 
and  judgment.  He  had  never  been  ar 
rested  before,  and  the  detectives  were  de 
lighted,  believing  they  would  now  have  an 
opportunity  of  tracing  to  him  a  series  of 
very  important  criminal  operations  that 
had  taken  place  in  New  York  and  some 
other  large  cities.  He  was  known  as 
Lewis  Mandit,  and  this  was  believed  to 
be  his  real  name. 

The  stout  man  was  a  first-class  profes 
sional  burglar  and  nothing  more,  and  was 
in  the  employ  of  Mandit.  The  young  man 
was  a  decidedly  uncommon  personage. 
He  was  of  a  good  family,  had  been  edu 
cated  at  one  of  our  principal  colleges,  had 
travelled,  and  was  in  every  way  qualified 
to  make  a  figure  in  society.  He  had  been 
a  newspaper  man,  and  a  writer  for  leading 
periodicals,  and  had  shown  considerable 
literary  ability  ;  but  a  life  of  honest  indus 
try  did  not  suit  his  tastes,  and  he  had  now 
adopted  knavery  as  a  regular  profession. 

This  man,  who  was  known  among   his 


154  THE   STORIES   OF  THE 

present  associates  as  Sparky,  still  showed 
himself  occasionally  in  newspaper  offices, 
and  was  generally  supposed  to  be  a  cor 
respondent  for  a  Western  journal ;  but  his 
real  business  position  was  that  of  Mandit's 
head  man. 

Sparky  was  an  expert  in  many  branches 
of  crime.  He  was  an  excellent  forger,  a 
skilful  lock-picker,  an  ingenious  planner 
of  shady  projects,  and  had  given  a  great 
deal  of  earnest  study  to  the  subject  of  the 
loopholes  of  the  law.  He  had  a  high  repu 
tation  in  criminal  circles  for  his  ability 
in  getting  his  fellow-rascals  out  of  jail. 
There  was  reason  to  believe  that  in  the 
past  year  no  less  than  nine  men,  some  con 
demned  to  terms  of  imprisonment,  and 
some  held  for  trial,  had  escaped  by  means 
of  assistance  given  them  by  Sparky. 

His  methods  of  giving  help  to  jail-birds 
were  various.  Sometimes  liberty  was 
conferred  through  the  agency  of  saws  and 
ropes,  at  other  times  through  that  of  a 
habeas  corpus  and  an  incontestible  alibi. 
His  means  were  adapted  to  the  circum 
stances  of  the  case,  and  it  was  believed 
that  if  Sparky  could  be  induced  to  take  up 
the  case  of  a  captured  rogue,  the  man  had 
better  chance  of  finding  himself  free  than 


THREE   BURGLARS.  155 

the  law  had  of  keeping  him  behind  bars, 
especially  if  his  case  were  treated  before  it 
had  passed  into  its  more  chronic  stages. 

Sparky's  success  was  greatly  due  to  his 
extremely  specious  manner,  and  his  power 
of  playing  the  part  that  the  occasion  de 
manded.  In  this  particular  he  was  even 
the  superior  of  Mandit,  who  was  an  adept 
in  this  line.  These  two  men  found  no  diffi 
culty  in  securing  the  services  of  proficient 
burglars,  safe-robbers,  and  the  like  ;  for,  in 
addition  to  the  high  rewards  paid  these 
men,  they  were  in  a  manner  insured 
against  permanent  imprisonment  in  case 
of  misfortune.  It  was  always  arranged 
that,  if  any  of  their  enterprises  came  to 
grief,  and  if  either  Mandit  or  Sparky 
should  happen  to  be  arrested,  the  working 
miscreants  should  substantiate  any  story 
their  superiors  might  choose  to  tell  of 
themselves,  and,  if  necessary,  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  whole  responsibility  of  the 
crime.  In  this  case  their  speedy  release 
was  to  be  looked  upon  as  assured. 

A  great  deal  of  evidence  in  regard  to 
the  character  and  practices  of  these  two 
men  came  from  the  stout  burglar,  com 
monly  known  as  Barney  Fitch.  When  he 
found  that  nothing  was  to  be  expected 


156  THE  STORIES   OF  THE 

from  his  two  astute  employers,  and  that 
they  were  in  as  bad  a  place  as  himself,  he 
promptly  turned  State's  evidence,  and  told 
all  that  he  knew  about  them. 

It  was  through  the  testimony  of  this 
man  that  the  motive  for  the  attempted 
robbery  of  my  house  was  found  out.  It 
had  no  connection  whatever  with  the  other 
burglaries  of  our  neighbourhood,  those, 
probably,  having  been  committed  by  low- 
class  thieves,  who  had  not  broken  into  my 
house  simply  because  my  doors  and  win 
dows  had  been  so  well  secured ;  nor  had 
our  boy,  George  William,  any  share  what 
ever  in  the  protection  of  the  household. 

The  burglary  was  undertaken  solely  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  possession  of  some 
important  law  papers,  which  were  to  be 
used  in  a  case  in  which  I  was  concerned, 
which  soon  would  be  tried.  If  these 
papers  could  be  secured  by  the  opposite 
party,  the  side  on  which  I  was  engaged 
would  have  no  case  at  all,  and  a  suit  in 
volving  a  great  deal  of  property  must  drop. 
With  this  end  in  view  the  unscrupulous 
defendants  in  the  case  had  employed  Man- 
dit  to  procure  the  papers ;  and  that  astute 
criminal  manager  had  not  only  arranged 
all  the  details  of  the  affair,  but  had  gone 


THREE   BURGLARS.  157 

himself  to  the  scene  of  action  in  order  to 
see  that  there  should  be  no  mistake  in  car 
rying  out  the  details  of  this  most  impor 
tant  piece  of  business. 

The  premises  had  been  thoroughly  rec 
onnoitred  by  Sparky,  who,  a  few  days  be 
fore  the  time  fixed  for  the  burglary,  had 
visited  my  house  in  the  capacity  of  an 
agent  of  a  telescopic  bookcase,  which 
could  be  extended  as  new  volumes  were 
required,  therefore  need  never  exhibit 
empty  shelves.  The  young  man  had  been 
included  in  the  party  on  account  of  his 
familiarity  with  legal  documents,  it  being, 
of  course,  of  paramount  importance  that 
the  right  papers  should  be  secured.  His 
ingenuity  was  also  to  be  used  to  cover  up, 
if  possible,  all  evidence  that  the  house 
had  been  entered  at  all,  it  being  desirable 
to  make  it  appear  to  the  court  that  I  had 
never  had  these  documents  in  my  posses 
sion,  and  that  they  never  existed. 

Had  it  not  been  for  a  very  natural  de 
sire  for  refreshment  that  interfered  with 
their  admirably  laid  plans,  it  is  probable 
that  the  mechanical  skill  of  Mandit  would 
have  been  equal  to  the  noiseless  straight 
ening  of  the  bent  bolt,  and  the  oblitera 
tion  of  the  scratches  and  dents  made  by 


158  THE  STORIES   GF  THE 

the  attempts  upon  other  shutters,  and  that 
Sparky,  after  relocking  all  open  desks  or 
cabinets,  and  after  the  exit  of  the  others, 
would  have  closed  and  fastened  the 
kitchen  shutters,  and  would  then  have  left 
the  house  by  means  of  an  open  window  in 
the  upper  hall  and  the  roof  of  a  piazza. 

Thus  it  was  that  these  three  men,  so 
eminent  in  their  different  spheres  of  ear 
nest  endeavour,  came  to  visit  my  compara 
tively  humble  abode  ;  and  thus  it  was  that 
they  not  only  came  to  that  abode,  but  to 
the  deepest  grief.  They  were  "  wanted  " 
in  so  many  quarters,  and  on  so  many 
charges,  that  before  they  had  finished  serv 
ing  out  their  various  sentences  their  abil 
ity  to  wickedly  avail  themselves  of  the 
property  of  others  would  have  suffered 
greatly  from  disuse,  and  the  period  of  life 
left  them  for  the  further  exercise  of  those 
abilities  would  be  inconveniently  limited. 

I  was  assured  by  a  prominent  detective 
that  it  had  been  a  long  time  since  two 
such  dangerous  criminals  as  Mandit  and 
Sparky  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
law.  These  men,  by  means  of  ver}r  com 
petent  outside  assistance,  made  a  stout 
fight  for  acquittal  on  some  of  the  charges 
brought  against  them ;  but  when  they 


THREE   BURGLARS.  159 

found  that  further  effort  of  this  kind 
would  be  unavailing,  and  that  they  would 
be  sentenced  to  long  terms  of  imprison 
ment,  they  threw  off  their  masks  of  out 
raged  probity  and  stood  out  in  their  true 
characters  of  violent  and  brutal  ruffians. 
Barney  Fitch,  the  cracksman,  was  a  senior 
warden  compared  to  them. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  my  Aunt 
Martha  recovered  from  her  disappointment 
in  regard  to  the  youngest  burglar. 

"Of  course  I  was  mistaken,"  she  said. 
"  That  sort  of  thing  will  happen  ;  but  I 
really  had  good  grounds  for  believing  him 
to  be  a  truthful  person,  so  I  am  not 
ashamed  for  having  taken  him  for  what 
he  said  he  was.  I  have  now  no  doubt 
before  he  fell  in  his  wicked  ways  that  he 
was  a  very  good  writer,  and  might  have 
become  a  novelist  or  a  magazine  author ; 
but  his  case  is  a  very  sad  proof  that  the 
study  of  Realism  may  be  carried  too  far," 
and  she  heaved  a  sigh. 


THE  END. 


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